Supplemental Health Insurance

***Supplemental health insurance required for students traveling abroad.***

When traveling internationally, Ohio State wants to ensure that every student is protected. Students traveling abroad for the purpose of research, international internships, or independent study as part of their academic program are required to enroll in the university’s supplemental study abroad health insurance. The supplemental insurance includes coverage for emergency assistance, evacuation, and repatriation. Faculty are encouraged to share this information with their students.
Please contact oia-sa.admin@osu.edu with any questions about the online application process or supplemental travel insurance.

Students traveling internationally

There are a variety of reasons for this:

  1. From a university liability perspective, the insurance registration is the only universal point at which students sign a release of all claims that has been vetted by Legal Affairs.  You’ll note all of the language on the form in the PDF linked to below.
  2. It also offers the student access to covered medical care for accident or injury, mental health or other incidents which may arise on even the shortest of travel experiences abroad.
  3. It provides for medical evacuation, political or natural disaster evacuation, repatriation and several other clauses that traditional insurance does not cover.
  4. It is the only universal registry of student travel abroad.  This allows us to respond proactively in the event of an emergency, and it also is where we pull statistical information for campus, CIC and national surveys on our international profile.

The steps are:

  1. Have student fill out and submit the student application by going to http://educationabroad.osu.edu  (see Students Traveling Internationally link above for specifics)
  2. Submit an eRequest for internal vendor select OIA Study Abroad. Only the dates of travel which are university related are to be counted. Provide the student with the Erequest number so they may enter it in the questionnaire in the application.
  3. This is required even if a Travel reimbursement is not expected or required.

Sample eRequest: eRequest_5578137 Sample OIA-Study Abroad

If there is any personal travel involved, please contact Laurie Ogburn at Ogburn.4@osu.edu. She will work with the student to arrange independent coverage for the non-OSU

Supplemental Health insurance is always required for all grad students going international, whether they want it or not.