Individuals on Rutgers' F or J visa sponsorship are permitted to have insurance coverage through any insurer they choose as long as the coverage meets the University's minimum required level of coverage. Students and scholars can bring their own coverage with them or can purchase a policy on their own that is not available directly through Rutgers.

In order for the Center for International Faculty and Student Services to evaluate whether an alternate policy meets the required level of coverage, if the policy is not a U.S.-based policy, the insurance policy's specific coverage benefits must be translated into English and must list coverage amounts in U.S. dollars. Should you choose to use an alternate plan, you will need to provide the Center with a detailed summary of what is covered including the dates the insurance is valid. For students this must be submitted along with the exemption request. For scholars this will need to be submitted by the department with the DS2019 request.

There are a number of short-term insurance options students and scholars may wish to consider purchasing instead of the Aetna Student Health policy. Each of these options must be looked at carefully, however, to ensure that they meet Rutgers' minimum requirements and also to ensure that you are picking the plan that will most closely meet your needs.

If you would like to explore alternative coverage options but do not know where to begin, we suggest any of the following special insurance programs designed specifically for participants in international educational exchange activities.

Please note that none of the options listed below will give you access to the Student Health Centers on campus UNLESS you are a student registered for a full-time course or credit load (at least 9 credits for graduate students; at least 12 credits for undergraduates). Access to the Student Health Centers is only provided when you purchase the Aetna Student Health Insurance plan.

Here are several of the alternate plans that we suggest and some of their highlights. For detailed and completely current information you must visit each of the companies' websites by clicking on the links provided.

• ISO
  ISO has a number of coverage options available but you must be careful as many of their current plans do not meet University requirements. The ISO MedHealth Med 1 level plan meets our requirements and gives you up to $250,000.00 of coverage per injury or illness.
  
  The above plan must meet a minimum of 3 months enrollment, and cannot exceed a maximum of 19 months.
  
• Gateway International
  Gateway provides a large assortment of plans that can be customized to meet specific needs. These plans can range in coverage periods from 15 days to 5 years and can also provide coverage for visiting outside of the U.S. Several plans, however, have options within them that would not meet our minimum requirement of $250,000 in medical coverage, so these plans must be chosen carefully. These plans can start as low as $49.00 a month, though rates will vary based on factors such as age.


• The Harbour Group
  The Harbour Group offers an International Student and Scholar Medical Insurance Plan that meets our minimum requirements for coverage. This plan requires a minimum of 3 months enrollment, and a maximum of 12 months. This plan starts at $64.00 a month and offers a maximum medical benefit of up to $250,000.00.


• HTH Worldwide
  Global Student Preferred and Global Student USA plans available. Global student preferred offers the following benefits: it provides $250,000 of coverage per year with100% cover for first $5,000 of expenses after which, 80% of bills are covered up to an additional $245,000. With Global Student USA, the same $250,000 of coverage per year applies, but it will cover 80% of your bills for the first $10,000, after which it will cover 100%. Each of these plans are available for 1 to 12 months of coverage, with the Global Student USA plan starting at approximately $38 a month and the Global preferred plan starting at approx. $67 a month


• Compass Benefits Group
  The Compass Benefits Group offers two major plans for international students: "CompassCare" insures covered medical expenses at 80% to $10,000, then 100% to $250,000 and "Compass Elite" insures covered medical expenses at 100% to the Plan Maximum of $250,000