As Anshika Patel left the restroom at her friend’s Wood’s Creek apartment, the heavy door closed rapidly on her thumb.

She experienced immense pain. The tip of her thumb had been completely shattered and the flesh completely exposed. Patel rushed to the health center, where she was referred to the hospital and then the ER.

Patel had to seek medical attention several times in the next eight months. She was ultimately left with a $6,400 medical bill.

As an international student, Patel is required to enroll in the university’s student health insurance plan, which doesn’t provide full coverage for medical emergencies in most circumstances.

Insufficient health insurance coverage has left several international students in medical debt after seeking emergency attention. They often aren’t aware of the realities of the American healthcare system even after they’ve enrolled.

The student health insurance plan ended up covering most of Patel’s bill. But she was told she had to pay about $1,700 out of pocket.

Students say issues with their health insurance have come from miscommunication with the administration.

“I was unaware of what services were offered in the insurance package because the school had bought it for us and we sort of weren’t allowed to be involved in that decision,” said Leela Addepalli, ’25, an international student from India who sprained her ankle during her first year of college.

According to both Addepalli and Patel, there was a lack of information regarding the protocols for seeking urgent care and the processing of medical claims with insurance.

“Urgent care works very differently from the way it does back home in India… Here, they don’t even tell you what’s happening, they just say, ‘don’t worry about it’ and then 6 months later you get hit with a bill that’s absolutely unreasonable,” said Addepalli.

Both of their procedures were mostly covered by the school’s health insurance, but they were left with significant amounts they had to pay out-of-pocket.

Patel and Addepalli’s expensive medical bills weren’t only frustrating to navigate but also posed long-lasting economic burdens.

Addepalli had to take out a loan to pay the $1,000 she owed the hospital.

“I’m on full scholarship here at WLU and I just couldn’t afford it… I couldn’t afford buying groceries or medication that I needed,” she said.

To this day, Patel is still unable to afford her medical debt.

“I still keep getting bills for like $1,500 and I keep telling them that it was supposed to be covered by insurance because that’s what the health center told me,” she said.

The lack of communication from the university administration with international students has hindered the trust they have in the school.

“I’ve only recently found out that the school has changed our insurance plan, and they didn’t even inform me,” said Addepalli. “There were no explanations of what our current benefits are and no brief.”

Student health director Allen Blackwood said the decision to change from United Health to Aetna came from a complicated process that required negotiations with other entities.

“We’re in what’s called a captive with about 15 or 20 other colleges in Virginia and so all the schools have to agree on the same insurance policy,” said Blackwood.

He said that the Virginia colleges have to agree on a plan which must be approved by the state.

“[Virginia has] to approve that this is a good plan with reasonable pricing for the students,” Blackwood said.

He also spoke about some of the resources available to international students.

“On the international student’s website there’s a little overview of the American health system, but it’s an overview so it’s not going to be in depth,” said Blackwood.

However, Blackwood said the university’s health department is willing to receive feedback to work better with international students in the future.

“We’re happy and open to try to be more helpful and educational,” said Blackwood.

High health insurance costs and the lack of affordable coverage are nationwide issues. But international students believe that it’s important for the university to be more transparent about the realities of the American healthcare system.

“Yes, this is a larger systemic issue in the United States, but I also feel like WLU should do a better job to prepare international students for any medical experiences that they might have in this country,” Addepalli said.