Mandatory Health Insurance

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Overview

Information for New, Transfer and Reentering Students for Spring Semester 2008

THE SPRING 2008 MANDATORY INSURANCE WAIVER SITE IS OPEN
November 15, 2007 - January 16, 2008 AT www.opus.emory.edu

Please note: This is information designed for new, transfer and reentering students for Spring 2008. If you are a new or transfer student first entering Emory University in Summer or Fall Semester 2008, please return to this website in April 2008 for information specific to you.

When uninsured/underinsured students become seriously ill or injured, their academic careers can be significantly threatened by substantial healthcare debt, disability or both. Therefore, all new and continuing degree-seeking and international Emory University students (including Oxford College) are required to have health insurance. Under this requirement, students must either purchase the Emory University Student Health Insurance Plan (offered by Aetna/The Chickering Group) or provide documentation of enrollment in a comparable United States-domiciled plan. New, transfer and reentering degree-seeking students and all international students for Spring Semester will have a link on their OPUS account at www.opus.emory.edu beginning November 15, 2007, requiring them to complete the waiver process on-line by the first day of Spring Semester classes (January 16, 2008).

If a new, transfer, or reentering Spring Semester 2008 student has not waived out of the Emory Student Health Insurance Plan by November 27th, he/she will be automatically enrolled in the Emory/Aetna plan for Spring-Summer 2008 and billed by the Emory Student Financial Services (SFS, also called the Bursar's Office). However, the student will still have until January 16th to complete a waiver and have the insurance enrollment and charge reversed.

Students will need to complete the annual insurance enrollment/waiver process each year they are enrolled at Emory. If the student wishes to be enrolled in the Emory University Student Health Insurance Plan, that enrollment will happen automatically at the end of the waiver process.

To complete the insurance enrollment/waiver process for 2007-08, do the following:

1. Go to www.opus.emory.edu
2. Enter using your Emory Network ID and Password
3. Select “Mandatory Student Health Insurance Waiver” on the Learner Services page
4. Follow the four-steps to complete the waiver process

In order for an insurance plan to meet the 2007-08 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. (Please note that coverage in Atlanta for emergency care only does not meet this waiver criterion.)
   
   
2. An individual annual deductible not greater than $2,500 per policy year. If the annual deductible exceeds $2,500, 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 $2,500.
   
   
3. The insurance must be provided by an insurance company domiciled in the United States.

Please note that waiver criterion #2 has changed for 2007-08 (the individual annual deductible waiver maximum increases to $2,500 for 2007-08). Please also be aware the Emory/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. To read the 2007-08 plan brochure, go to www.chickering.com , click on Student Connection, choose Find Your School and enter Emory University. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the brochure.

There have also been some important changes to the 2007-08 Emory/Aetna Student Health Insurance Plan. These changes include:

• There is no longer a supplemental plan (the option to increase the aggregate lifetime maximum per illness/injury to $1 million is no longer available).
• Students who graduate in December or otherwise do not enroll for Spring Semester (including medical withdrawals) lose coverage unless they purchase the 3, 6 or 9 month supplemental plan within the first 30 days of the Spring plan.
• Varsity athletic injuries are covered up to $75,000.

Emory students will submit their insurance compliance information either by linking through OPUS or via the Emory University Student Health Services (EUSHS) web site.

*Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view PDF files.