I am a French undergrad student who will spend a school year as an international exchange student at Middlebury College under a J1 visa.
The school offers an insurance plan through an health insurance company called Gallagher. Even though the plan is rather interesting, the price of the deductible ($100) and the overall annual price for the plan only seems quite coslty.
As a consequence, I’ve tried to find some other plans on my own and found:
the Liaison plan by Seven Corners;
the Student Health Advantage by IMG;
the Crystal Studies plan by April International;
the Premium Visa plan by EuropUSA
And now, I need some advice
Has anyone been covered by these plans/companies? What was your experience?
Would you advice me to rather be covered through the offered school health plan?
What medical expense benefits (must be >$100,000) would be considered reasonable?
Besides the J1 visa requirements that need to be respected, what would you advise me to look for in an health insurance plan.
Another question: is there a real difference between a Student Health Center and an appointment at a “town physician’s”? I’m asking this question because through the Liaison plan by Seven Corners, an appointment at the Student Health Center would only cost $5.
Thank you very much for your opinions and answers!
Have a nice day,
SempMid
You may not have a choice in the matter. Middlebury says that you can only waive their health plan if you have other ACA-compliant coverage. Cheap J-1 policies are not ACA-compliant. ACA-compliant means that the plan has to cover a specific set of services, like physician and hospital care, prescription drugs, mental health and pregnancy; that the plan cannot refuse to pay for pre-existing conditions; and that it obeys limits on your out-of-pocket spending.
Middlebury’s plan is quite cheap AND generous for American standards. (E.g. a similar plan on the Vermont exchange would cost you about $700 per month.) While you can find cheaper plans that are not ACA-compliant, please be aware that they can only be cheaper because they cover less, oftentimes in hidden areas. If you opt for another plan, please read all of the plan documents to understand what you are buying.
Here’s a few examples.
Networks. How many doctors and hospitals and labs are covered in the area near your college? A plan would do you limited good if you have to travel 50 miles to get care.
Coverage exclusions. Are sports injuries covered? Injuries sustained while under the influence of alcohol? How about mental health issues? (Even if you don't have a mental health concern. If you go see a physician for fatigue or headaches or chest pain or a stomach ache and they can't find anything obviously wrong with you, they may decide to diagnose you with anxiety or depression. An insurance company would see that diagnosis and might decide that all of the related services are excluded under their mental health provision.)
Pre-existing condition exclusions. Do you have a chronic health condition (like allergies), or have you ever had an injury that might flare up again at some point in the future? Cheap J-1 plans may not cover anything related to a pre-existing condition (e.g. an acute allergic reaction that may land you in the ER).
That depends on the health center and the physician’s office in question. At my undergraduate college, the health center was mostly useless for anything other than flu shots, birth control and acne medication. At my graduate university, the health center had multiple specialists on staff and had more testing equipment than most doctor’s offices.
