Insurance Dictionary

  Accident means a sudden, unexpected and unintended event.

  Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) means an additional cash benefit to be paid to the insured person or his beneficiaries (usually family members) if an accident causes either the death of the insured or to lose body parts.

  Co-insurance means the ratio (%) of splitting a bill between the insurance company and you. 80% for the first $5,000 means the insurance company will pay $4,000 and you are responsible for the remaining $1,000.

  Co-pay means the fee you pay for certain medical services or prescription drugs. For example, you may pay $10 to fill a prescription and the health plan covers the balance of the charges.

  Coverage in/out a PPO network means the health insurance plan allows you to use any qualified medical service provider, but offer you to save money by using the PPO network the insurance plan is affiliated with. You will usually save money by getting higher benefits, or your Co-Insurance will be lower if you use PPO service providers.

  Covered person means any Insured and Dependent who enrolls for coverage and for whom the required premium is paid.

  Deductible means the dollar amount of covered expenses you are responsible to pay the physician or hospital before the policy will pay any benefits. Deductible Per event means you pay your deductible once for all different services you received per one sickness or accident. So in case your doctor requires you to return for a check of your condition due to the same sickness, you will not pay the deductible again.

  Dependent means the person's immediate family members: spouse (wife or husband) and children.

  Effective date means the date specified on your certificate of insurance as the beginning of coverage.

  Emergency care - most plans cover emergency care in a hospital emergency room if it is an extremely urgent medical emergency, even if the hospital you are taken to is not in the plan's network.

  Insured personis the person who purchased the insurance, whose name appears on the certificate of insurance or medical insurance ID card. It might include his dependents, if added to the policy.

  Maximum lifetime medical benefits mean the total amount payable by the insurance company for covered medical expenses due to injury or sickness per policy lifetime.

  Maximum per injury or sickness means the total amount payable by the insurance company for covered medical expenses for injury or sickness per medical event.

  Medical evacuation means transferring the insured person to the nearest hospital or medical facility in case of an emergency injury or sickness or back to his home country.

  PPO or Preferred Provider Organization is a network of doctors, clinics, hospitals and related medical service providers who are organized under the PPO to provide health care at a discounted or negotiated rate.

  Pre-existing condition means any injury or illness which you suffered from or for which treatment was received prior to the date your insurance started.

  Premium or monthly rate means a specified amount of money that the insurer receives in exchange for its promise to provide health insurance to an individual or a group.

  Prescription Drug Coverage (Rx) is a type of specified expense coverage that provides benefits for the purchase of drugs and medicines prescribed by a physician and not available over-the-counter. Often a plan will provide a prescription drug card that allows the insured to obtain medications by simply paying a co-pay at a participating pharmacy.

  Qualified service provider means a licensed doctor, laboratory, nurse or hospital. Many plans will limit you to a list of doctors and hospitals organized under a PPO. This is a list of doctors and other service providers who agree to negotiated (and much lower) rates for their services. They, in exchange get referrals from the insurance company. Better plans allow you to visit any licensed doctor or hospital.

  Repatriation means transporting the remains of insured person back to his home country.

  Sickness means an illness, disease or condition of the insured for which he/she incurs medical expenses while covered under the Policy. All related conditions and recurrent symptoms of the same or similar condition will be considered one Sickness.

  Student Health Center (SHC) means a medical facility on campus (can also be known as "school clinic") that provides medical services for the university’s students. For treatment given at SHC some plans will offer a lower deductible.

  Usual and Customary charges means the amount normally charged by the provider for similar services and supplies and do not exceed the amount ordinarily charged by most providers of comparable services and supplies in the locality where the services or supplies are received.

  Underwriter (carrier) means the insurance company, the Insurer. The party to an insurance arrangement who undertakes to indemnify for losses, provide pecuniary benefits, or render services.

Questions? Please call us at (800)244-1180 or e-mail to mailbox@isoa.org
ISO Customer Care representatives are standing by to assist you!

ISO, International Student Organization, is the principal provider of international student health insurance. As such, ISO is the sole service provider of ISO health insurance plans: COMPASS Gold, COMPASS Silver and COMPASS Platinum are the leading AIG student insurance plans; ISO Med 1 and ISO Med 2 are the foremost ACE student insurance plans. International students who need student health insurance are looking for international student insurance at ISO whose main interest is providing health insurance for international students for more than 50 years. In addition to insurance for international students, ISO insurance plans are also offered to non-US citizens who are seeking visitor health insurance plans and medical insurance for non-US citizens. The leading visitor health plans are VOYAGER Elite and VOYAGER plans; US NetCare Apex and US NetCare Advanced medical insurance plans for non-US citizens.