Insurance While Abroad

The University of Richmond automatically provides an assistance plan for employees traveling outside of the United States on official business. The Executive Assistance plan available from Chartis International Services covers UR employees while abroad on University business.

For an identification card and a copy of the policy coverage, please contact the Safety Services & Risk Management office at (804) 289-8824. The Chartis insurance provides medical, personal, and travel assistance only and does not replace the health insurance you have as a UR employee. If you have waived your health insurance at Richmond, please consult with your insurance company for details of coverage while abroad.

Healthkeepers and High Deductible Health Plan coverage are limited to urgent and emergency care. The claims must be paid up front, translated to U.S. dollars, and submitted by the member with all medical documentation to support payment. See information below for Keycare coverage abroad.

If taking a leave of absence, including sabbatical, complete the Away from Home Application.

Anthem Keycare
www.bcbs.com/bluecardworldwide

Be sure to take your health insurance card with you while abroad. If you need in-patient hospital care while you're overseas, show your health insurance card at the admissions office. The participating hospital will bill the plan through Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield for covered expenses. If you go to a non-participating hospital or receive outpatient care, you may have to pay the bills and submit the claims for reimbursement. When the claim is for a diagnosis code that is identified as "medical emergency" in Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield's system, the claim will pay at the high tier regardless of whether the facility is participating with Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
  
Before traveling abroad, follow these steps:

Consult the BlueCard Doctor and Hospital Finder on the Web page listed above for participating hospitals and doctors outside the United States. You will need to enter your identification number including the three letter alpha prefix to get to the international home page. From there you can select the country to find a provider. Claim forms for outside the United States are available from the website on the left hand side by selecting claim forms. Call member services at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield to confirm health coverage while abroad since not all benefits may be available outside of the United States. For emergency medical care, go to the nearest hospital. Call the BlueCard Worldwide Service Center at 1-800-810-2583 or call collect 1-804-673-1177. For non-urgent care, call the BlueCard Worldwide Service Center. The Service Center will facilitate hospitalization at a BlueCard Worldwide hospital or will make an appointment with a doctor. It is important to call the Service Center in order to obtain cash-less access for inpatient care. The Service Center is staffed with multilingual representatives and is available 24 hours per day, seven days a week.

For questions on Richmond's employee health coverage, contact Laura Dietrick, director of total compensation and HR administration.
E-mail: ldietric@richmond.edu
Extension: 8167

See above information regarding Anthem coverage. Additional coverage can also be purchased directly through travel insurance companies like CMI. UR rates to not apply to non-university business trips abroad. International health insurance policies can also be purchased from other companies such as Access America when purchasing airlines tickets either online or through travel agents.

This depends on how much coverage you want. In addition to the Chartis insurance, UR employees are strongly encouraged to purchase additional international travel and health insurance for expenses not covered by Chartis or the Anthem plan.  This chart shows a comparison of overseas health coverage for UR employees. To complement the insurance already provided by the University, the Office of International Education has contracted with FrontierMedex Insurance to cover students, faculty and staff who travel abroad on university business. The cost for UR faculty and staff is as follows:
 
University of Richmond Rates - FrontierMedex Abroad Insurance
 
Class 2 = faculty and staff on study abroad business, including and conferences outside of the United States. International students, international faculty, international staff members and dependents are not eligible for coverage in their Home Country, except as specifically provided under the extension provided by the Home Country Benefit.

UR employees can request individual short-term international health insurance coverage by completing the online request form at least one (1) week prior to your departure date.  Please read the instructions, ordering and payment information very carefully.  Any questions should be directed to Jennifer Stevens at jsteven2@richmond.edu.
 
More details on the insurance coverage as well as the copy of the up-to-date CMI insurance policy can be found in the Health and Safety section of the UR study abroad website.

Dependents traveling with the UR employee on University business can purchase insurance through CMI-MEDEX at a group rate. Submit the Dependent Enrollment Form, which includes the current rates for spousal and dependent insurance coverage, directly to MEDEX Insurance Services. The Chartis insurance is not available to non-Richmond employees.

"Dependent" means a Covered Person's lawful spouse or Domestic Partner; or unmarried child from the moment of birth to age 19, or 26 if a full-time student; and who are chiefly dependent on the Covered Person for financial support.  A child, for eligibility purposes, includes a natural child, adopted child, step child or foster child.  Coverage on a newborn child will cease 31 days after the date of birth unless the Company receives notification of the birth, a completed enrollment form and required premium.

"Domestic Partner" means a person of the same or opposite sex who:

1. shares your primary residence;
2. has resided with you for at least 12 months prior to the date of enrollment and is expected to reside with you indefinitely;
3. shares Your primary residence;
4. has resided with You for at least 12 months prior to the date of enrollment and is expected to reside with You indefinitely;
5. is financially interdependent with You in each of the following ways;
   1. by holding one or more credit or bank accounts, including a checking account, as joint owners;
   2. by owning or leasing their permanent residence as joint tenants;
   3. by naming, or being named by the other as a beneficiary of life insurance or under a will;
   4. by each agreeing in writing to assume financial responsibility for the welfare of the other.
6. has signed a Domestic Partner declaration with You, if recognized by the laws of the state in which You reside;
7. has not signed a Domestic Partner declaration with any other person within the last 12 months.
8. is older than 18 years;
9. is not currently married to another person;
10. is not in a position as a blood relative that would prohibit marriage.