Travel emergency medical insurance that covers the entire duration of your time abroad is required for your ILP semester. Your policy must meet specific requirements — we've outlined all the details below, along with recommended plans for you to consider.
Most standard healthcare plans (including popular ones like SelectHealth and BlueCross) do not include travel emergency medical insurance and do not meet the requirements for your ILP trip. Even if you already have healthcare coverage, you'll need to purchase an additional travel-specific plan for your ILP semester.
It's due at your Preparation Deadline — this deadline includes submitting several items called your "Travel Documents" that are required for travel to your assigned country, including obtaining travel medical insurance. Your ILP rep will give you more details when it's time to work on this, but plan for it to be around a couple of months or so before departure.
*Pro tip!* You may want to purchase your travel medical insurance now, though, while you're applying for your ILP trip. Why? "Trip Cancellation" is an added benefit that comes with some insurance policies, but it's usually only an option if you're at the stage of applying for your trip (and not already accepted as an ILP volunteer). So although ILP doesn't require you to obtain your travel insurance until closer to departure, we do recommend that you look into it now, while you're completing your ILP application, as you may have more travel insurance options available to you.
It is an added insurance benefit — It's not required like your travel medical plan is, but it can be advantageous to include in your plan. As a reminder, ILP does not refund all or part of your program fee in the very rare case that there is a natural disaster, political unrest, or some other unexpected or catastrophic condition that makes the program shorter than the scheduled length. If you would like a refund in this rare circumstance, you will need to purchase an insurance policy that includes trip cancellation/interruption. Travel emergency medical insurance is required by ILP for all ILP volunteers, and while trip cancellation/interruption is a separate policy, it's possible to find coverage that includes both policies. Trip cancellation is a personal preference and is not required.
Many insurance companies that include plans with Trip Cancellation coverage require that you purchase your policy at the same time or within a very short time of making your first payment towards your ILP trip. Payment 1 is due as part of your application, so you should look into and purchase a policy right away if that's something you're interested in.
Again, ILP doesn't require that you purchase your travel emergency medical insurance plan until closer to departure, but completing this now gives you the option of also obtaining that additional coverage of Trip Cancellation/Interruption in your plan.
Your at-home health insurance policies (Select Health, Blue Cross, or any other insurance not purchased for travel) will NOT fulfill the ILP insurance requirements and or the recommendations.
ILP does not contract with any insurance company, nor do we receive incentives for recommending certain policies. Our focus is always on safety. Below you'll find travel emergency medical insurance policies recommended by past volunteers.
*BlueCross BlueShield Global Solutions is formally known as GeoBlue. We have been recommending GeoBlue for several years, so you may have heard past ILP volunteers recommending GeoBlue — this is that same, updated recommendation. Another important thing to know is that BCBS Global Solutions is not the same as BCBS policies offered in the States. So, if you use BlueCross for your health coverage at home, you'll still need to look into the Global Solutions plans for your trip coverage.
Plans we do not recommend:
We have received negative information from the following policies — Generali, Trawick, Worldtrip, AIG, Cigna, and Allianz. ILP does NOT recommend you travel with these policies. If you do, make sure you understand you will, in all likelihood, be required to pay upfront and file a claim to be reimbursed. Claims can take up to a year and may be disputed. They may work for trip cancellation, but are not recommended to fulfill your travel emergency medical insurance requirement.
If you wish to purchase your health insurance plan now, we have more information in your Travel Documents. You'll receive your Travel Documents after you're assigned to a location, but since you're purchasing your policy now it may be helpful to have early access to that. Please email vrc@ilp.org to request access to your Travel Documents for purchasing your policy. That's also a great place to ask any questions about insurance you may have before settling on your final policy.
Once you have chosen and purchased your plan, please submit your policy information on this form to confirm this requirement has been completed.
As a reminder, completing this form is not officially due until closer to your semester, but we recommend completing this step now to qualify for a plan that includes trip cancellation/interruption coverage. If you do not wish to purchase your plan now, we will remind you later when it's time to complete it as part of your Travel Documents.