This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Education Report.
We continue our Foreign Student Series. Today, in part eleven, wetalk about a cost that students who want to study in the UnitedStates may not always consider. That is, the cost of healthinsurance.
Most Americans are responsible for their own medical costs. Thesecan be extremely high if a person gets very sick or has an accident.So people buy a health insurance plan to make sure these costs willbe paid.
Most American colleges and universities have student healthcenters. There may even be a teaching hospital that can treat moreserious problems.
Some medical services may be included in the cost of attending aschool. But health insurance is usually needed for extra services.So most full-time college students must have insurance.
Students may already be protected under their family's healthplan. If not, many colleges offer their own plans.
The University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, will be our example.Students pay a health service fee. Then there is no extra chargewhen they are treated for minor medical problems at the UniversityHealth Center. But the school wants students to have healthinsurance to pay for other services.
The insurance plan offered by the university costs about onethousand seven hundred dollars a year. Such health insurance plansgenerally pay for hospital services, emergency room care and visitsto doctors. They usually do not pay for care of the teeth. And theyusually do not pay for treatment of medical conditions that existedbefore the student arrived at school.
International students at the University of Michigan have twochoices. They can buy the university health plan. Or they can haveprivate insurance that is approved by the university.
The school also offers a special International Student InsurancePlan. This pays for most of the services offered by the UniversityHealth Center that are not included in the health service fee.
Students in the United States can also buy private insurancepolicies from independent companies. Whatever plan is right, schoolswant to know that all their students can pay for their health careneeds.
Our Foreign Student Series is on the Internet atvoaspecialenglish dot com. And for student information from theState Department, visit educationusa.state.gov.
This VOA Special English Education Report was written by NancySteinbach. This is Gwen Outen.