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In Brief
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The University of Virginia requires you to have health insurance. It is your responsibility to secure health insurance coverage. You may choose any plan that suits your needs.
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The University of Virginia has arranged with Aetna Student Health, formerly named Chickering Insurance, to help you meet this requirement. Graduate programs that offer a healthcare subsidy generally pay for a student's coverage with this plan. The date coverage is available is coordinated with the arrival of students in the summer.
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On-line enrollment: To enroll, visit the page for UVA students at http://www.uvastudentinsurance.com/ prior to the start of classes. Use your Student ID or Social Security # as the Valid Identification Number, and use the code 812806 as your "group number". If you will get the health subsidy: do not provide full payment for your individual healthcare and indicate you will accept the health subsidy.
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The maximum reimbursement for graduate programs in the School of Medicine will be $1,976 for individual health coverage in 2008-2009; for those programs offering a dental reimbursement, the maximum will be $321. If you elect coverage other than the Aetna Student Health Plan, contact your Program Administrator to determine if your program reimburses the cost of individual healthcare coverage.
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If you have additional questions, please contact your BIMS Administrator. The Open Enrollment period for Aetna Student Health Coverage closes on October 3rd for 2008-2009.
| You will be signing up for the Aetna Student Health Plan |
How to Sign-up |
Details:
Note: The health insurance has no paper application. The new dental insurance provider is United Concordia. |
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Register On-line with
Aetna Student Health; click on Enroll; register by 10/03/2008
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Check the box indicating that you will accept the subsidy, subtract $1,976 from the total, which is the amount of the subsidy and pay the difference for family members. |
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Print enrollment form for dental via the Aetna Student Health site above. Mail form and payment so it is received by 10/3/2008 |
Pay in full and retain proof of payment for reimbursement for your portion - a maximum of $321 |
| You will be signing up for health insurance or dental coverage through another company. |
Provide proof of payment
to your BIMS Program Administrator as soon as possible, preferably by October 1, 2008. |
Pay in full, obtain or retain proof of payment for reimbursement - up to a maximum of $2,297.
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Additional Information
- The Aetna Student Health is located in Massachusetts; they have no local office.
- Mail the completed dental enrollment form and payment to:
United Concordia
Direct Pay
PO Box 69423
Harrisburg, PA 17106-9423
- If you elect coverage other than the Aetna Student Health Plan, your program may reimburse the cost of individual coverage up to a maximum of $2,297. This includes healthcare coverage under a spouse or parent's plan. Ask for Proof of Payment from your insurance provider and plan to be out-of-pocket for at least 3 weeks after you provide the proof of payment to your BIMS Administrator. Reimbursement will be direct deposited to your bank account.
HOME DEPARTMENT CONTACTS
Your primary contact is the administrator for your Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, aka your BIMS program. If they're not available or if they can't help, see the staff contact for your Ph.D., interdisciplinary or training program. Graduate Program Personnel List
Questions and Answers
Does Aetna Student Health have a Web site?
Yes. It is http://www.uvastudentinsurance.com/; visit the section entitled "Student Connection". Make sure to use University of Virginia's group number 812806 and indicate that you will be accepting a healthcare subsidy.
How are payments made to Aetna Student Health for a spouse and/or dependants?
Graduate students may pay for the difference between the subsidy and the cost of the spousal or family coverage in either a one-time payment or in more frequent installments. The installment plan requires a credit card and Aetna Student Health will charge that credit card for payment toward the student's spousal or family coverage.
What if a student has health insurance through a spouse, partner, or parent?
Graduate students may continue to use other health insurance packages. The University's primary interest is that every graduate student has appropriate coverage. Please discuss with your BIMS Program administrator how and when you will be able to show proof of payment for your coverage to qualify for reimbursement.
If a student already has health insurance, can s/he collect the cash value of the health insurance subsidy from their academic department or Aetna Student Health?
No; the graduate student health insurance subsidy is non-transferable and non-refundable. Unused subsidies cannot be refunded for their equivalent cash value.
Will students be required to claim the subsidy as taxable income?
The subsidy may be taxable income reported on IRS Form W-2 at the end of the calendar year. You should check with your tax advisor on this.
What happens if a qualifying graduate student ceases to qualify for purposes of the graduate student health insurance subsidy during the academic year?
A student may "cease to qualify" for the graduate student health insurance subsidy for any number of reasons, among them:
- The student drops out of school during the course of the academic year
- The student is not employed in the capacity that was anticipated at the start of the academic year (i.e., the student was expected to earn $5,000 as a TA during the year, but in actuality was not employed in that capacity); or
- Fellowship funds are not awarded because the student ceases to qualify for that fellowship.
If a student "ceases to qualify" after s/he has enrolled in the Aetna Student Health plan, and payment has been made, there will be no refund of the payment to the University of Virginia. The University and Aetna Student Health will allow the student's health insurance coverage to continue until it expires.
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