What is the best International Student Health Insurance?

[Robrobrob]

Hi,

Can you guys recommend a good price/performance ratio health insurance for international students? My college offers one but it can only be done via e-transfer. We don't have those transfer types in my country and I don't have anybody in Canada that can do this e-transfer. I'm looking for one that I can easily pay with my credit card. The price my college was offering for 1 year was around 620$.

Thanks a lot. Cheers

PS: It should be cheap and cover the basic needs.

 

[Ironclad]

guard.me

 

[Robrobrob]

guard.me

My quote was 1825$ compared to the 620$ the college offered me lol.

 

[studentfrompoland]

I booked through Allianz Global Assistance. 635 CAD

 

[Ironclad]

My quote was 1825$ compared to the 620$ the college offered me lol.

You are right even I am planning to withdraw from Guard.me to Allianz Global Assistance .

 

[studentfrompoland]

In case you haven't booked yet @Robrobrob or you still want to see some others @Ironclad see here. Allianz Global is no. 3

As per the Canada Insurance Plan, the average yearly premium for obtaining a health insurance ranges from $600 CAD to $900 CAD. Some of the insurance firms that students could approach for health insurance are:

• Manulife Financial;
• TuGo;
• Allianz Global;
• Sun Life;
• Ingle International;
• Cowan Insurance Group;
• Greenshield.

 

[Ironclad]

Understand but initially I applied for May 2020 intake and deferred to May 2021. Totally forgot about this insurance thing. Thanks to this thread so as I could get a refund off the DLI or changing the company may be really helpful.

 

[kathysrazor]

Manulife is the big one, and they were reasonably priced. I used them to get out of the need for the school insurance for the first 3 months in BC, and kept them afterwards because they covered my prescriptions. My income was way too high for the PharmaCare discounts, unfortunately.

CoverMe® travel insurance for students | Manulife

For most students, the provincial care is the way to go if and when you can get it.

 

[bongoman]

Beware a lot of these products are not true health insurance and are more travel insurance, this means they might not cover day to day doctor visits but rather emergency situations, also almost none of them will be accepted by clinics/hospitals directly you will need to pay first and then ask to be reimbursed by the health insurance company which is when you actually find out if they are going to accept your claim or give you the run around, my strong recommendation is to go with the school health insurance, I dont even think its an option to opt out in most provinces, pretty sure we couldn't in ON.

 

[kathysrazor]

Beware a lot of these products are not true health insurance and are more travel insurance, this means they might not cover day to day doctor visits but rather emergency situations, also almost none of them will be accepted by clinics/hospitals directly you will need to pay first and then ask to be reimbursed by the health insurance company which is when you actually find out if they are going to accept your claim or give you the run around

Canada is single payer, so that's how it tends to work with any third party insurance other than things that are often not covered (dental, mental, orthotics, etc.).

I dont even think its an option to opt out in most provinces, pretty sure we couldn't in ON.

That's why I phrased things the way I did. It varies from province to province and situation to situation. I had a work permit along with my study permit (for example), which would have let me get insurance in ON. When I was in BC, though, it wasn't an issue:

Certain other individuals, such as some holders of Study and/or Work Permits, or Work Permits on Working Holiday Programs — which are issued under the federal Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and are valid for a period of six or more months — may be deemed residents. Tourists or visitors to B.C. do not qualify.

 

[canuck78]

As @bongoman has pointed out you are gettting a much better deal with the international student medical plan. It covers routine care, medication up to a certain amount, dental care up to a certain amount, vision care up to a certain amount. The travel mefocal insurance will only cover medical emergencies and are more difficult to deal with. Policies are often included or added to tuition.

 

[studentfrompoland]

As @bongoman has pointed out you are gettting a much better deal with the international student medical plan. It covers routine care, medication up to a certain amount, dental care up to a certain amount, vision care up to a certain amount. The travel mefocal insurance will only cover medical emergencies and are more difficult to deal with. Policies are often included or added to tuition.

One of my good friends from Poland got one for 544.50 CAD from Ingle International. It covers all the basic needs and even dental emergencies up to 2,500$. That's a pretty good deal.
Always take a moment to read the insurance policies. Some might seem confusing but everything is listed somewhere in this policy