Benefits

There are certain benefits you receive in each Corps. Both offer educational incentives for joining and certain health benefits as well. For a full year of service with AmeriCorps, volunteers can elect to receive either an education award of $4,725 (taxable the year you use it and only available to use for five years following service) or a stipend of $1,200. Peace Corps does not offer an education award, but does give somewhere around the ballpark of $6,000 as a readjustment allowance following two years of service. This amount is pro-rated should you choose to terminate early. AmeriCorps’ education award is basically an all-or-nothing deal; serve your 12 months or miss out. Peace Corps does have a Fellows program with various universities around the country in which returned Peace Corps volunteers have an edge in the application process. At least from what I understand, most of these programs have some sort of international focus. I believe that being a volunteer with either Corps also qualifies you for student loan forbearance.

As for the rigorous medical clearance that PCVs must go through, this is where it all pays off: Once you’re accepted to Peace Corps and have shipped off overseas, Peace Corps is completely responsible for your health coverage. In theory, it is the best medical coverage you’ll ever have because everything is free to you. You will have yearly checkups that run the medical gamut, replacement for glasses (not contacts) should they break, and access to lots of over-the-counter drugs (not that you should necessarily take advantage of this). One poster brought up the issue of preexisting medical conditions. Peace Corps medical clearance is a real bitch for anyone with preexisting conditions, but if you are cleared, trust that Peace Corps will take care of you. AmeriCorps, on the other hand, does not. For the entire length of your service, you are given limited health coverage–I believe they just termed it “health benefits”–that do not cover any preexisting conditions, dental, and no allergies. It’s a really bare bones sort of coverage, one that doesn’t even qualify as insurance, which is why some AmeriCorps volunteers opt to keep any other medical coverage they may already have if it is affordable. I haven’t had many medical issues that have me butting heads with Seven Corners, the benefits provider. One thing that I am extremely happy about is that since my prescriptions have no generic counterpart on the market, my prescriptions are completely free and I pay exactly nada.

All of this brings me back to Peace Corp’s medical fabu “in theory.” In theory, I had the best medical coverage I could ever have in my life. The doctors there told me so. When you suddenly relocate to a country thousands of miles away and with radically different climate, your body will go through a certain amount of shock. On top of this, you’re adjusting to a totally different culture and way of doing things. It’s natural to freak out when your body starts to go haywire, too. I went through the medical jitters, as did practically every PCV I met. However, I also had some real issues that were developing which did not resolve themselves. I tried everything I could think of to resolve before going to my Peace Corps Medical Officer (PCMO). He would dismiss all of my concerns and prescribe the same course of action I had already been taking as though it were a fresh idea. After half a year of complaining about one particular issue, multiple visits to Peace Corps Medical, and fretting because it was getting drastically worse, he finally sent me to see a specialist. There were several other issues I had as well, and I felt that instead of addressing the actual problems, the PCMO I saw most often would set red herrings for me. In what I believe was an effort to save a buck, he suggested (and sort of threatened medical separation, in my mind) that I was just emotionally stressed and it was physically manifesting itself. He asked me if I really wanted to be in Peace Corps. My PCMO was charming and knew how to give me the run-around when it came to wanting medical care. It is an awful feeling to cross your fingers and hope everyday that now you’re back in the States, those alarming health issues won’t recur. And then to be validated several months after you end your tour, when everything comes back to haunt and terrorize you. I cannot stress enough that it is different at every Peace Corps post, but of all my regrets about Peace Corps, the bulk of them come from the compromise to my health. This compromise was not due to a lack of resources that Peace Corps Medical had at its disposal, but to the poor execution of health coverage I received during service. In my mind, you are volunteering two years with hardly any financial gain. At the very least you shouldn’t feel guilty for worrying about the changes your body is going through, and you shouldn’t be manipulated into stifling your concerns.

During your service you also receive a living allowance from your Corps. Peace Corps’ living allowance is supposed to cover transportation, food, clothing and other basics. Some of this your host organization will try to shoulder. AmeriCorps Vista’s host organizations are also expected to cover public transportation costs and set aside a rent subsidy which should cover most–if not all–of your rent. Vistas qualify for food stamps because their “salary” is counted as a living stipened. It’s written in the books that social workers are to disregard the $11,000/year income.

Some advice: Don’t try to save your Peace Corps money. I was a huge penny pincher while I was there, trying to stretch my living stipend as far as it could go while adding to my stash every month I was at it. Since Peace Corps doesn’t necessarily give you enough to cover everything when you first get to country to get set up (the budget for house appliances, etc. is set a year in advance and cannot take inflation into account), many PCVs take out money of their own. By the time I left Peace Corps after seven months, I found that I had only broken even. It’s definitely foolish to try to save money on a Peace Corps salary, so just don’t worry about it and do take every opportunity to travel. Peace Corps is really only a financial “loss,” depending on how you look at it. Since your AmeriCorps allowance really doesn’t allow you to travel at all, consider relocating to another part of the States. AmeriCorps does offer a relocation allowance.