Looking for affordable health insurance? The answer may be closer than you think.
For uninsured students, the U offers an Affordable Care Act-compliant health insurance plan through United Healthcare Student Resources. It is available to both domestic and international students.
In order to be eligible, undergraduate students must be enrolled in six credit hours — roughly two courses — and graduate students just three credit hours. This means the vast majority of U students are eligible for enrollment.
Gina Guthrie, a patient account representative with the U’s Student Health Center, applauds the convenience of the insurance for students.
“There’s easy access,” she said. “It’s kind of all right here.”
For those living on campus, the insurance plan allows students to receive primary care at the Health Center, with a $10 co-pay. Those covered by the plan are also eligible for 100 percent reimbursement of birth control, as well as a $250-per-year deductible for referrals with outside providers.
Kerry Hill, a student insurance program manager, said the plan is geared toward families as well, “since it costs 43 percent less to add a spouse.” Hill believes the university’s plan is favorable for these young families because the insurance coverage is tied to education rather than employment.
Hill said graduate students are especially drawn to the plan because if they work as a teaching assistant or a research assistant, the department they work under will pay 80 percent of the premium.
International students also make up a large portion of those insured by the university because they are automatically enrolled in the plan when they register at the U. They can waive the plan but must provide proof of comparable coverage in order to do so.
Students who wish to sign up for an insurance plan can enroll online at studenthealth.utah.edu. Guthrie encourages anyone with questions to contact the Health Center directly.
She said, “If they are students and not covered by under their parent’s insurance it’s really good health care.”
@sarahnlegg