8 Mistakes International Students Make When Purchasing Health Insurance

For thousands of international students, finding a valid health insurance is not only a university requirement – but an important step in securing peace of mind. The U.S. healthcare system is incredibly expensive and one unexpected hospital visit can put your U.S. journey in serious jeopardy.

In this article, we aim to explain the most common mistakes international students make when finding health insurance and how you can avoid them.

1. Enrolling in the school plan without considering alternatives

Most universities automatically enroll international students in a school-sponsored insurance plan. These plans are comprehensive, but they’re often built to cover both domestic and international students - which can make them unnecessarily expensive.

Luckily, most universities offer the option to waive these plans if you find another comparable insurance. There are several different companies that offer plans designed to meet university requirements at a fraction of the cost – including ISO Student Health Insurance.

Before committing to spending thousands per year, review your options and see if a more affordable alternative makes sense for you.

2. Assuming everything is covered 100% without reviewing deductible/copay/ coinsurance/etc.

Coming from outside the U.S., it could sound like a foreign concept that something as simple as a doctors visits can cost you up to $300 - and even more foreign that your insurance plan doesn’t cover every dollar of all your medical expenses.

But the reality is that insurance is not designed to provide 100% coverage for medical expenses. Even the most expensive private insurance plans will come with some level of cost sharing.

To make sure you understand how much your plan will cover, make sure to look over the following items:

• Deductible: What you pay first before insurance starts covering certain costs.
• Copay: A flat fee you pay for a service or visit.
• Coinsurance: The amount the insurance company pays, shown as a percentage, after meeting the deductible.

So in short, find a plan with lower deductible/copay and higher coinsurance.

3. Not reviewing plan exclusions prior to purchasing

Though you should always focus on what your insurance covers, it’s arguably more important to check what it doesn’t cover. All insurance plans have a list of exclusions of medical services that won’t be covered.

This is especially relevant for international student-tailored plans as there are usually additional exclusions to help maintain lower costs. This includes things such as:

• Pre-existing conditions
• Mental health or substance use treatment
• Sports or hazardous activity injuries
• Preventive care or wellness visits
• Dental and vision services

Before you buy a plan, make sure to review the exclusions and avoid an unexpected claim denial in the future.

4. Not reviewing university requirements

When waiving a university plan, your school will generally provide unique requirements for plan benefits and dates of coverage that your plan must meet. These requirements will differ by school but key things to note:

• For benefits – the most common requirements include U.S.-based claims processing and coverage for both inpatient/outpatient care. This often causes non-U.S. based plans or travel insurance plans to not be accepted.
• For dates – a majority of schools require you to show coverage on at least a semester-by-semester basis, though larger universities require annual coverage.

Review your school’s requirements and keep them in mind when shopping for a plan.

5. Purchasing too close to the waiver deadline

Though insurances like ISO allow you to purchase and submit your waiver within minutes, it’s still recommended to purchase an insurance plan well before the waiver deadline.

It can take weeks for for your school to fully process your waiver request – causing many students who purchase last minute to have issues adding/dropping classes since many schools place you on financial hold if you don’t show proof of coverage.

6. Not checking what doctors or hospitals are included

Even a comprehensive insurance plan becomes frustrating if it doesn’t work where you live. Insurance companies use networks (like PPO, HMO, or EPO) that determine which doctors, clinics, and hospitals you can visit at lower cost.

Before enrolling, check if local providers near your campus are in-network. Otherwise, you could end up paying significantly more out of pocket.

7. Ignoring customer service

Good coverage matters - but so does good support when something goes wrong. Many large insurance companies have poor customer service and often lack multilingual assistance options – which can come back to bite in the future.

Want to test this? Give the company a call or send an email before you purchase to ask some questions about your plan. Keep in mind how long it takes to get a response and the level of quality their service team provides.

8. Not maintaining summer coverage

Even if your university only requires coverage during the school year, it’s risky to go uninsured over the summer - or during OPT after graduation. Accidents and illnesses don’t follow academic calendars, and medical bills in the U.S. can be very high.

Make sure to keep tabs of when your insurance is set to end so you can re-new or find a new plan with no gaps in coverage.