Son going to US on athletic scholarship - study abroad insurance

Mijapo

My son will be going to the USA next month on a full athletics scholarship which means he will be getting full health and dental (after a small amount paid by us)

In terms of "long term stay" and "study abroad" packages - is the only other insurance he requires the cover for medical repatriation and gadgets? Can anyone recommend any companies that provide this without adding in health insurance? We looked at cover4insurance but the premiums were astronomical and they said this was down the cost of health care in the USA (despite me saying we did not need that)

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6676897/son-going-to-us-on-athletic-scholarship-study-abroad-insurance

Gadgets in principle can normally be covered by Home insurance but you are going to be going far too long for any normal limit of items outside the UK.

Unfortunately medical is the main reason people buy insurance in the first place and there are just too few that dont want it for it to be worth the time and effort to develop a product for it. I mean as long as its legal you can ultimately get insurance but if you need bespoke product creation you are talking massive premiums anyway because its bespoke.

How long is he going for? Presumably this is for a full degree over there rather than an exchange year or such with most being education here?

Mijapo

@MyRealNameToo Thanks - yes, he is going for (in theory) the full 4 years

In my mind, I just need insurance for his journeys/cancellations and gadgets. Everything else is covered by the university under his scholarship (health, dental, renters)

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82075990#Comment_82075990

Liability? With the US being so litigious its a serious consideration, again normally covered by your home insurance here and travel insurance for trips but in the US people normally buy an umbrella liability policy.

Will they be coming home between semesters? If you answer yes how sure they will be after the first couple when their life is based there?

In terms of the health insurance the collage is providing, have you read and understood it? In the US healthcare even half decent policies can have both an excess and a co-pay/coinsurance where you pay the first $1,000 plus X% of the next $50,000… a US based colleague just had to pay a $5k excess plus another $10,000 on his 20% coinsurance for surgery.