Bates College

Off-Campus Study Program

Health Insurance and Emergency Assistance

Health Insurance: It is absolutely essential that you have comprehensive health insurance while abroad. Ask your family to obtain written confirmation that your health insurance policy provides coverage in your country. The optional Bates insurance that many families subscribe to provides such coverage. If you have questions about coverage, you can call Doris Ducharme, the insurance specialist in the Health Center (207-786-6199) or consult the Cross Insurance Company web pages for Bates: http://www2.crossagency.com, click on “College Health.” Several companies specialize in student insurance abroad, including CMI Insurance Worldwide and HTH Worldwide (877-237-2390). Take your policy number and the company's address, regular telephone number, etc. with you. (800, 888, and other toll-free numbers do not work from overseas.)

Emergency Assistance: Many programs automatically enroll their students in an Emergency Assistance insurance policy. You should establish whether or not you are covered by such a policy and, if you are, put the key contact information into your cell phone. If your program does not provide emergency assistance, you should use one of the policies below.

For U.S. citizens students enrolled in the Bates College Insurance Policy, this assistance is provided by Scholastic Emergency Services. Call 877-488-9833 if in the United States and +609-452-8570 from abroad. Services are also accessible via email at: medservices@assistamerica.com

For international students enrolled in the Bates College Insurance Policy, this assistance is provided by Medex. If calling from the United States, the Medex number is: 1-800-527-0218. From abroad, the number is: +410-453-6330. You can call collect. Your Medex reference number is on your insurance ID card, but you can call them without it in an emergency.

For Bates students not enrolled in the Bates College Health Insurance Policy, Europ Assistance USA provides this assistance. The Europ Assistance emergency center is open 24/7. If calling from the United States, the number is: 1-800-766-8206. If calling from abroad, call collect if needed: +202-659-7777. The Bates plan number is: 01-SP-585. Please note that this emergency medical assistance does not eliminate the need for regular health insurance.

You should enter the appropriate telephone number into your cell phone so it will be available if needed.