Traveling abroad can be very exciting for students and understandably, student travel insurance is usually not their top priority. However, it is wise to protect travel investments by purchasing adequate insurance in case the trip does get cancelled, or medical issues crop up during the trip.

While there are several cheap student travel insurance plans available in the market, what a traveling student might need is just basic coverage for trip cancellation and minimum medical insurance. Two of the plans that offer such coverage are the Patriot Student Trip Insurance and the Student Guard Student Travel Insurance plan.

While both plans offer nearly the same coverage, the benefit amounts vary for each plan. The Patriot plan offers coverage of up to $5,000 in non-refundable trip costs, and $2,500 in medical and dental expenses when traveling. The Student Guard plan, in contrast, offers 100% of the trip cost, and up to $5,000 in medical or dental expenses.

The Patriot plan offers greater coverage, for trips up to 30 days, while the Student Guard plan offers coverage for a maximum of 14 days. The Patriot plan also has limited coverage for previously existing conditions, and that can be extremely handy. Whichever plan you choose, however, ensure that you read the fine print to know exactly what will be covered.

Lars Kohler is excited about his study program in the United States—after all, it has always been his dream to study marine biology. One of the things he has to pack, along with his clothes and books, of course, is international student insurance, sometimes called study abroad insurance. There are others from his university who are also enrolled in different programs in the United States, though.

Lars has two options now: To purchase individual exchange program insurance (also called J-1 insurance) and to purchase group study abroad insurance along with his friends and colleagues. There are several plans available for both options. However, Lars needs to look up a couple of things before purchasing the insurance plan.

First, he needs to check that the insurance that he purchases satisfies all the requirements of insurance put forth by his university, the exchange program, as well as any requirements that the U.S. Department of State has for his visa status. For example, if he is coming to the U.S. under a J-1 visa, there are several prerequisites that the health plan must satisfy.

Lars must also think about purchasing long-term study abroad insurance, depending on the duration of study. There are several insurance plans in the market—for example, Patriot Exchange Group Insurance and Student Health Advantage plans. The important thing is to look for necessary and relevant coverage.

If you are a visitor to the United States, and your home country’s healthcare doesn’t work on private insurance, you may be confused with all the talk of visitor health insurance. What’s more, you’re probably wondering what all the different terms mean. We briefly looked at what deductibles are in an earlier post.

The deductible is the amount that you will pay before the insurance company benefits start kicking in. This is done primarily so that you can take care of minor expenses yourself. Remember that the presence of the deductible decreases the premium amount payable.

The other term that you might come across is co-insurance. This is typically something you will see in regular health insurance plans, and not as much in visitors medical insurance. Many insurance plans cover the plan holder for a certain percentage of the costs. This can range from 70% to 90%. This means that after the deductible, the amount that is billed will be shared by the insurance company and the plan holder in the ratio that is specified.

The co-insurance amount is also called the out-of-pocket limit or maximum. Some plans feature a co-insurance amount up to a certain benefit amount, after which the insurance company covers the plan holder for 100% of the costs.

When traveling with children, often the most common question asked is about buying a travel insurance policy for the children. Travel medical insurance for children is not very expensive, because of the low risk of illness that they pose. What’s more, some plans offer great coverage for children, including free coverage.

The TravelGuard travel insurance plans feature free coverage for children aged 17 and under when they travel with a covered adult. That means that for every adult, one child (17 years or under) will receive free coverage. The TravelGuard Silver plan is basically a trip insurance plan, covering trip cancellation, delay and interruption, as well as baggage loss and delay. The

The plan also offers medical coverage up to $15,000, with a $50 deductible. If the primary plan holder has purchased any optional coverage, however, that will not be applicable for the child. Some of the optional benefits that the plan offers are an increase in the medical coverage amount, flight insurance of up to $500,000 and car rental collision coverage.

Whether children have independent insurance, or insurance through a parent’s, it is important that they take special care when traveling. Children are prone to minor stomach and other viral infections, and only eating food from trusted sources can really help keep them safe and healthy.