Travel Resources

Western Washington University’s Education Abroad (EdAbroad) requires that participants engaged in international educational activities provide evidence that they have obtained appropriate study abroad health insurance through Cultural Insurance Services International (CISI) prior to travel outside the U.S. Western requires evidence of health insurance (copy of insurance confirmation letter and/or I.D. card) and a completed Health Insurance Questionnaire in the online EdAbroad application. 

While the participant is ultimately responsible for determining if an insurance plan meets their personal needs, the plan should provide the following minimum amount of coverage:

• Medical expense coverage of $500,000 per injury or sickness.
• Accidental death & dismemberment indemnity in the amount of $10,000, except $25,000 during airline travel.
• Repatriation expense benefits of $100,000.
• Medical evacuation benefits of $500,000.
• Visit by family or friend including airfare, lodging and meals up to $20,000.
• Political and natural disaster evacuation of $100,000.
• 24-hour emergency medical and travel assistance.

Where can I purchase this insurance? **

• CISI: self-enrollment in group CISI plan for individual Western students. WWU sponsor code is: WWAU
  • To extend your CISI coverage for personal travel before and/or after your program, go into your CISI portal and click on “purchase individual coverage” for the individual WA outbound plan, or go to the CISI website and select “extend my insurance plan.” Contact Kathleen at CISI: enrollments@mycisi.com, 203-399-5509 for assistance.

Additional Considerations:

• If the participant maintains a personal health insurance plan, it is important to contact plan representatives, in advance, to know what coverage is available while abroad. Also, what notifications and procedures are required to access plan benefits.
• Participants must be financially prepared to pay for healthcare services up front while abroad. Most plans will follow a “pay and claim” scenario. In other words, the participant will pay for the medical services and then submit a claim form and all relevant invoices to the insurer. Claim reimbursement will be made directly to the participant.
• The participant is personally responsible for expenses related to trip cancellation, trip interruption and/or trip delay, which includes the expenses of unplanned quarantine and trip delay due to travel during an epidemic or pandemic. The participant should also consider a plan(s) that covers these potential expenses.

Many of the education abroad programs that are offered by EdAbroad provide study abroad health insurance as part of program benefits, see below. For those programs, the participant will NOT need to purchase additional insurance to meet the requirements above. If you have any questions, please contact WWU’s Education Abroad office at (360) 650-3298 or WWU’s Risk Manager at (360) 650-3065.

**Participants in the programs listed below do NOT need to purchase additional insurance: 

Academic Programs International (API), American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS), CEA Study Abroad, Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), International Student Exchange Program (ISEP), International Studies Abroad (ISA), Institute for Field Research, SAI Programs, School for International Training (SIT), University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC), Wildlands Studies, and WWU Global Learning Faculty-led Programs.

The University policy POL-U2105.01 Traveling Abroad for Educational Experiences applies to travel abroad for students, faculty, and staff.

Other resources:

• Travel Insurance Guide
• Insure My Trip
• Travel Insurance for Students