To avoid having to pay high medical bills that result from
illness or injury (the bill for a few days of hospital care
can be in the thousands of dollars), it is necessary to
buy health insurance. Insurance protects against the need to meet
an entire medical expense oneself. Insurance spreads the cost
of medical treatment among a group of people, not all of whom
have problems that result in medical bills.
Federal regulations require students in J-1 status and their
J-2 dependents to have health insurance that meets specified
standards. If you receive a Form DS-2019 to obtain a J-1 visa,
you should also receive information about the insurance requirement.
In addition, colleges and universities
require their F-1 students and in some cases their F-2 dependents
to have
health insurance. Your school will send you information about
any health-insurance requirements.
The topic of health insurance is very complex.
Even so, we encourage students to make an effort to understand it. This
chapter discusses
health insurance under these headings:
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