HEALTH CARE & HEALTH INSURANCE IN THE UNITED STATES

Health Insurance Options for International Students and Scholars

All F-1 students, J-1 students, and J-1 scholars are required by MSU to carry health insurance at all times.

MSU offers a health insurance policy in partnership with the Chickering Group, Inc. For more information on MSU’s Chickering Group policy, visit the following website: http://www.hr.msu.edu/HRsite/Benefits/Students/HealthCov

F-1 and J-1 students at MSU fall into the following three categories with regards to health insurance:

• Graduate students with qualifying assistantships are provided with health insurance free of charge. The health insurance policy is issued by the Chickering Group.

• Undergraduate students and graduate students without assistantships will automatically be billed for a health insurance policy issued by the Chickering Group on their MSU student accounts.

• Students who purchase their own private health insurance may request an “insurance waiver”, which is an exception from the mandatory Chickering Group health insurance policy. Students may qualify for the waiver by providing proof that their private health insurance meets certain minimum requirements. The health insurance waiver may be requested online at the following website:
http://www.hr.msu.edu/studentinswaiver/

J-1 scholars who are employed by MSU for more than nine months are eligible for health insurance coverage as a benefit of employment. Consult your hosting department for more information. J-1 scholars who are not employed by MSU are eligible to purchase the Chickering Group health insurance policy.

Please Note: The Chickering Group health insurance policy has a $100,000 medical coverage maximum per event for graduate students with qualifying assistantships and a $50,000 medical coverage maximum per event for undergraduate students, graduate students without assistantships and J-1 scholars. This will not completely cover you if you experience a major illness or injury! The cost to treat major medical events such as severe illness (example: cancer) or severe injury (example: automobile accident) may exceed the normal limits of the Chickering policy.

It is possible for you to buy the Chickering Group’s “Catastrophic Plan”, which offers the same policy with a $250,000 medical coverage maximum. If you use the Chickering Group policy, we encourage you to consider purchasing this plan to protect against catastrophic financial loss in the event of a major illness or injury.