Group medical insurance for J1 visa holders
Exchange visitors group medical insurance can be purchased by a group of 5 or more J1 visa holders.
Every year, a few hundred thousand exchange visitors arrive in the US on J1 visa, some have their dependents (spouse and minor children) accompanying them on J2 visa.
The US Department of State mandates that all J visa holders purchase a compliant J visa insurance plan that provides at least $100,000/incident medical coverage, $50,000 in emergency medical evacuation and $25,000 in repatriation of remains.
There are many J visa insurance plans that would meet the requirements.
However, if the sponsoring organization has a group of 5 or more J1 visa holders, they can apply for exchange visitors group medical insurance. It generally provides the same coverage as individual plans; however, it is usually 10% cheaper.
In order to qualify for the J1 visa group insurance, it is important to remember that all 5 members must be from the same sponsoring organization. We do not suggest trying to making your own group, like Grouping J1 and J2 visa holders to make 5 members or grouping J1 visa holders from random sponsoring organizations (that have no organizational relation) simply to purchase group medical insurance. You should be aware that such schemes to get a discount is prohibited. Even if a policy is purchased successfully, such a ploy could make your entire coverage void at the time of claim, when you really need it. We strongly advise you not to try any such tactics and don’t fall victim to any insurance agents who claim to give you a discount in such illegal manner.
