By Wesley Dickinson

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Few students who study abroad find themselves in emergency rooms, but luckily for those students, they will not be stuck with a hefty bill.

UK Education Abroad requires students to purchase Travel Medical Insurance and Evacuation Coverage before they depart from the U.S. According to an EA information resource guide, the insurance covers emergency medical services, medical evacuations, and assistance with health and safety concerns, all of which are accessible 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.

“Any student who goes abroad from the University of Kentucky — if they should have to pay out of pocket, they will be reimbursed 100 percent,” said Anthony Ogden, executive director of Education Abroad and Exchanges. “If they let us know, we can intervene and try to have that payment made on site so that they don’t have to pay for … a very expensive emergency room visit or something like that.”

Ogden has been involved with study abroad programs for more than 20 years but is beginning his 6th year at UK. He said EA students rarely return home during their time abroad, and if they do it is usually not because they are sick.

“We’re talking less than a handful,” Ogden said. “It’s always been because of some personal reason — never because of fear of safety or security.”

According to EA enrollment data, nearly 1,100 students were enrolled in the 2014-15 academic year — an overall 1.6 percent increase from the previous year. Students are required to attend several orientations throughout the EA experience, where professional staff members will review possible health and safety risks.

Despite having a section dedicated to health and safety on its website, the UK International Center also recommends for students to visit the Center for Disease Control’s website to educate themselves on what possible health care issues and diseases they could encounter while abroad. CDC recommends for anyone who is planning a trip overseas to get vaccinated at least four to six weeks before departure.

Ammena Khan, a psychology, communication and pre-law junior, studied abroad this summer and became ill. Whereas students normally study in one location during their EA experience, she was part of an honors program that spent three days in each of the five locations from London to Rome.

Khan became sick on the first or second day of the trip, having to visit an emergency room in London and receive treatment for her condition because there were no clinics that would accept EA insurance in her area. The hospital did not recognize her insurance and told her to expect a bill when she returned home.

“I never received a bill,” she said. “Honestly I don’t think they wanted to fool with it because I was (from another country).”

The hospital gave her five doses of the medication, and Khan became sick again when she arrived in Florence, Italy, the second to last stop on the trip. Khan went to a walk-in clinic and spent $50 out-of-pocket on medication.

“If I received the bill (from the emergency room) I of course would have contacted UK and been like, ‘Okay, how to I go about getting reimbursed?’” she said. “And honestly, the $50 that I was told that I was going to have to file a claim with the insurance company really didn’t seem like it was worth it.”