Health Insurance requirements

NEW DEADLINE and IMPORTANT INFORMATION regarding Health Insurance requirements!

Insurance season is coming earlier than ever this year! As you know, under Emory University requirements, students must either purchase the Emory University Student Health Insurance Plan (offered by Aetna Student Health) OR provide documentation of enrollment in a comparable United States-domiciled plan. This year the deadline for waiving out of the Emory plan is several months earlier than usual. Students will have a "To Do" on their OPUS Account on or after April 15, 2006, requiring them to complete the waiver process on-line by July 1st. Remember, if you choose to waive out of the Emory plan, you must do so every year!!

If a student has not either enrolled in or waived out of the Emory Student Health Insurance Plan by the deadline date by July 1, 2006, he/she will be automatically enrolled in the Emory/Aetna plan and billed by the Student Financial Services (SFS). Billing through SFS is the ONLY method of payment for the Emory plan - the credit card option and enrolling directly with Aetna Student Health will not be offered.

In order for an insurance plan to meet the Emory University mandatory insurance waiver criteria, the insurance plan must feature, at a minimum, all three of the following:

• 1. Coverage that allows the insured student to receive outpatient, emergency, specialist and inpatient care, diagnostic testing and procedures, and mental health inpatient and outpatient care, including alcohol and substance abuse treatment, in Atlanta, GA.
• 2. A deductible not greater than $500 per policy year. If the annual deductible exceeds $500, the insured student must have an approved Healthcare Savings Account (HSA) that will allow the student to seek needed medical and mental health care when recommended by a healthcare provider and will cover all deductible expenses over $500.
• 3. The insurance must be provided by an insurance company domiciled in the United States.

International students are also STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to have medical evacuation/repatriation coverage.

Please be aware the Aetna Student Health Insurance Plan meets, and in most cases significantly exceeds, these required coverage minimums. In addition, the Emory/Aetna plan has no pre-existing condition limitations or exclusions. For more information about the 2005-06 Emory/Aetna plan (information about the 2006-07 plan will follow in Summer 2005), visit the Student Health Services web site at www.emory.edu/UHS and click on Fees/Insurance.

To read the 2006-07 plan brochure, go www.aetnastudenthealth.com, click on Student Connection, choose Find Your School and enter Emory University. You can also visit the ISSP website for information specific to international students here (this section also contains a list of approved alternative insurance plans).