Know More About Insurance Options
Health insurance is always a concept fraught with worry. The University of Maryland, along with many other colleges nationwide, requires that students who are enrolled in 6 or more credits have insurance. Upon being enrolled at UMD, they enroll students in the University-sponsored Health Insurance plan, but students who already have insurance can sign the Health Insurance Waiver and remain on their own plan. The purpose of UMD requiring a form of health insurance is to ensure that students have adequate coverage and can avoid costly medical and health center bills.
The Student Plan
The plan that is offered by the University of Maryland is The Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). This plan is a premium level insurance plan that is provided by CareFirst Blue Preferred PPO through Academic Health Plans (AHP). This plan allows students to be covered by most services they need at the Health Center. When utilizing SHIP, patients do not have deductibles and no fees are required for all covered services. This health insurance plan is a great asset to those students that do not have their own health insurance.
The American College Health Association notes that “SHIPs are an outstanding value for students due to robust and broad coverage, often at half the cost of comparable employee plans…SHIPs are uniquely designed for the lifestyle of college students. Specifically, SHIP coverage accounts for the mobility of the student patient population by remaining in place while a student engages in student travel or during anticipated breaks in the academic year.” The rate for SHIP in the past school year of 2019-2020 was an annual fee of $1,298.
The Waiver
Considering that students are automatically enrolled in the UMD Health Insurance Plan, those students that do not wish to be enrolled must fill out a health insurance waiver. This waiver states that students are waiving the university plan because they have their own health insurance. It is important that his form is filled out if necessary and needs to be filled out each academic year.
When filling out the waiver, make sure your student logs in using their UMD ID. Once you sign in, you clock the “WAIVE” button from the “I Already Have Insurance” section. Following this, all you have to do is fill out your insurance information and attach the required documentation, then hit “SUBMIT WAIVER” and you’re all done.
Each year the Fall waiver must be completed by September 15th, and February 15th for Spring, so look out for the specific date in your email at the beginning of the month. If you miss the deadline, students will be enrolled in SHIP and the premium fee will show up on their tuition bill, so make sure you get it in beforehand. If you miss the deadline, but then have the waiver submitted, a credit will be posted to your account on the next billing cycle.
Note: For waivers submitted after 7/15/20; if approved and you have been billed for SHIP, a credit will be posted to your account on the next billing cycle (minimum 10-12 business days). If your waiver was approved, you would have received an auto-generated confirmation email from AHP (please check spam and junk folders). If you cannot find your confirmation email, please call AHP at 1-855-855-4303.
Note too: Undergraduate students taking less than 6 credits do not have to complete the waiver.
Regardless, as part of your student’s tuition fees, there is a mandatory health fee that you will pay and probably not even know it. The health fee, medical compliance fee, health promotion fee, counseling fee, are health-related fees that support student activities and support services associated with the University Health Center (UHC). It covers a broad range of health and wellness services.
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