OPT Student health insurance plan in U.S. (Guide for 2023)
1.What is OPT health insurance?
1.What is OPT health insurance?
OPT, also known as Optional Practical Training, is the period after graduation when international students on F1 visas are legally working in the United States. After graduation, students are no more eligible to get on with their student insurance.
If you are an international student coming to the U.S. and will be graduating soon, you should purchase OPT health insurance for your OPT period as health protection, although the U.S. government does not mandate that students purchase insurance while on OPT.
2.What situations are suitable for OPT health insurance?
2.What situations are suitable for OPT health insurance?
All students in OPT are eligible to purchase OPT health insurance regardless of their non-employment or employment status.
For students who are starting to work in employment status, some companies are not large enough or financially able to provide health insurance for their employees:
- Some companies only provide health insurance for full-time employees, and interns are not eligible for medical coverage.
- Some companies only pay part of the premium for their employees. For example, a customer in New York would have to pay $400/month for insurance, since switching to Student Medicover health insurance, only costs around $50 a month.
If your employer does not provide health insurance for you, Student Medicover affordable OPT health insurance is your best choice for health insurance.
* F-1 students have 60 days grace period after graduation or OPT period ends. Students who are in the grace period are not eligible to purchase OPT health insurance, instead you can choose Student Medicover travel insurance, which can be purchased at flexible times, allowing for seamless health coverage!
3.Why does OPT health insurance matter?
3.Why does OPT health insurance matter?
❖ Uncontrollable high medical bills and other risks
The price of medical care in the United States is uncontrollably high: some people stay in the hospital for one day $20,000 +, some people see the doctor once $500 + …… If there is no insurance, students need to pay for it out of pocket. For those who choose to return to their home country for medical treatment, whether it is because of the instability of their status during OPT （If you don’t have a stable job, you run the risk of not being able to return to the U.S. ）or during the COVID-19 pandemic，it could be a very risky choice.
❖ Being sick may affect your work performance
After you start working, the time and opportunity cost of getting sick is very high. Faced with a tight schedule and intense workload, illness may cause you to miss important meetings and deadlines.
❖ F1 visa insurance premiums are lower
The OPT period is still an F1 visa and allows you to purchase an affordable alternative health insurance plan, which is considerably cheaper than many green cards or U.S. citizens’ insurance. And since there is no longer a school insurance requirement during OPT, the coverage time is more flexible and there is a wider variety of options.
4.Student Medicover OPT health insurance benefits
4.Student Medicover OPT health insurance benefits
- Affordable starting at $1.5 per day
- Flexible coverage time and multiple insurance plan options
- PPO medical network with providers and physicians throughout the United States
- Medical Coverage
- COVID-19 Coverage
- Mental Health Coverage
- 24/7 online professional customer service including
- Enroll the plan
- Find nearby in-network providers and doctors
- Help with insurance claims
- Answer all medical and insurance questions
5. Enroll your OPT student health insurance
5. Enroll your OPT student health insurance
We recommend purchasing from the day your existing insurance expires to ensure that you have medical coverage for every day you are in the United States.
Enrollment
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