The University of South Florida has committed to a robust and comprehensive international health and evacuation insurance policy for all USF international business travelers. There is no additional cost to travelers for this coverage. This policy provides coverage for health expenses, medical evacuation, and evacuation in case of political unrest and natural disaster.
A business traveler is anyone traveling on a USF sanctioned international experience, not accompanying students abroad. This includes faculty, staff, alumni, donors, contractors, colleagues from other institutions, and government officials participating on USF sanctioned international business travel.
To obtain the USF Faculty & Staff medical and evacuation travel insurance benefit for business travel:
1. Complete the electronic USF Travel Authorization Request (TAR) and have it approved in the Archivum by the Fiscal Approver and Supervisor before travel activities occur and inform USF Health International when the TAR is approved at healthglobal@usf.edu
Per Section 1010.36, Florida Statutes, all USF faculty, researchers, and research department staff traveling internationally for employment-related activities must have specific approval prior to travel. Please utilize the Archivum System to ensure that your travel meets all state requirements. You can find more information about the state's policy on this fact sheet HERE. A change has been made in Archivum to capture additional data and to get required approval from the Research Integrity Officer (RIO) prior to travel. After fiscal approval, any Travel Requests to these countries will be directed to travelers to answer questions as seen in screen shot below and to provide their agreement. In cases where the traveler is not an employee, the submitter will receive this task and will need to upload the signed attestation from the traveler. Please make sure to include emergency contact information abroad as well as an emergency contact stateside.
- If the estimated USF travel expense is zero, Travel Authorization may require to enter a minimum of $1 to complete the form
- The policy will cover 100% of the costs for covered medical expenses up to $250,000 and evacuation coverage for situations involving natural disasters or civil unrest
2. Global Travelers Insurance Information
Medical, safety, and security coverage is provided and paid for by USF for all properly registered USF international travelers for trips abroad for up to 365 days. International SoS (ISoS) is our provider of these comprehensive services. International travel is defined as travel to any location outside of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, and therefore includes all international bodies of water and U.S. territories, as well as foreign countries.
Every registered USF traveler as defined in USF policy 10-507 including faculty or staff traveling on University Business, or students and faculty traveling on student related travel will be enrolled in the Global Health and Security Insurance. The policy offers limited accident and health insurance policy for the days of travel. In addition, USF travelers will receive comprehensive 24/7 assistance through International SoS (ISoS). The cost of insurance and most support services are borne by the University on behalf of all international travelers.
3. Key features and services of ISoS
The insurance is managed by a third-party administrator (Gallagher) that processes claims to the insurance company and covers travelers for the period of official travel and up to 14 days on either end of the official travel in the event a traveler arrives early or departs late from their period of official travel up to 365 days of coverage.
- Dependents and guests are not covered by the USF travel insurance policy. You can elect to purchase additional coverage here.
- Individual policy coverage details (effective September 1, 2023 - August 31, 2024) can be found here.
- Prior clearance to ensure coverage is required for travel to U.S. Department of State Tier IV countries or to those countries listed included in the OFAC country list.
- USF's Membership ID Card information can be found here.
- Why should I call International SoS?
4. Getting Insurance Help
Call ISOS for any travel-related health, security, or personal wellness emergency. Your policy benefits will cover you if you become ill, injured, or your program location is deemed unsafe. If you become ill while abroad please contact ISoS through the ISoS Assistance App. You will need to identify yourself and provide them with our USF ISoS policy number (399GDA1018486IT).
To use USF's health insurance, after consulting with on-site staff, call International SoS at +1-215-942-8478 (collect calls accepted worldwide) – when calling, reference member ID 399GDA1018486IT.
We strongly suggest that ALL travelers download the ISoS App onto a phone that they will have with them during travel. Take hard copies of ISoS phone number and USF’s ID number in case your phone is lost or unavailable.
5. ISOS Assistance Application
The ISoS Assistance Application is a digital safety and security desktop and mobile app. It enables you to stay in contact with ISoS Global while traveling worldwide for work, research, or education. The App provides a 24/7 live chat for phone assistance, security, and medical content for all destinations, as well as valuable travel tools, such as planners and notifications. It is required that you have this app on your phone while traveling.
Once you have downloaded and installed the app, follow the easy "getting started" instructions. For more info on how to establish an account, register, and use the application please visit the ISoS Assistance App website.
Additional pre-departure travel recommendations for faculty on business:
- Prophylaxis and Vaccinations: It is strongly recommended that faculty follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s travel guidelines regarding prophylaxis and vaccinations for their travel destination(s). Please go the CDC's website for travel health information.
- Review the USF Health Travel Resources
- Record the International SoS 24/7 Emergency Phone Number +1-215-942-8478.
- Should faculty encounter any issues or emergencies while abroad, or need assistance filing a claim while abroad, contact the International SoS 24/7 travel assistance number: +1-215-942-8478.
- Print the USF's Membership ID Card