Student Health Insurance

No. 

UW has a voluntary program for domestic students but rather than a hard waiver program like we have for international students or an opt-in program where students who want to purchase insurance do so directly with the insurance company, UW’s program is a hybrid that requires students to make a yes/no selection at the time of class enrollment.  Each semester, as part of their enrollment process, every domestic student must say whether they want to purchase the student insurance or not, they are then asked to confirm their selection and then they are sent an email confirming their selection and telling them how to change the selection and the deadline to do so. Changes to their selection are allowed until the drop deadline of that semester.

Yes. 

UW has mandatory participation in the UW student health insurance plan for all international students who are on campus attending courses unless they qualify for a waiver of the insurance because they have equivalent insurance that meets certain coverage requirements.  Requiring health insurance for international students provides protection for the students who are often unfamiliar with a healthcare system that requires individuals to pay for their care and it also protects local health providers who may treat students for more serious injuries or illnesses that cannot be treated at Student Health and who will need to collect from otherwise unsuspecting students.

No.

Yes, up until the deadline each semester.

You can change your decision on the student health insurance until the drop class deadline.

Changing your choice is easy.  The steps on changing your student health insurance are:

1. Go to Wyoweb
2. Under WyoRecords click on ‘Students’
3. Once you are logged in you will click on the ‘registration’ tab
4. Then you will click on ‘prepare for registration’
5. Choose which term you are referring to then click ‘continue’
6. Scroll to the bottom of the page. In the series of links click on ‘health insurance coverage’, which is in the middle.
7. Once you are here you will click on ‘change my selection’
8. Click if you would like to purchase/enroll or decline the student health insurance.

After you make your decision you will receive an email stating what you decision was. If you encounter a problem with changing your decision immediately contact the Student Health Insurance office at 307-766-3025 or stuins@uwyo.edu to report the problem and seek assistance.

Yes.

Currently, with some limited exceptions, the policy requires students to first see Student Health for their care. This reduces the cost to the plan by managing student care (almost like a HMO plan) and by paying Student Health rather than for profit providers with higher billing rates.

Many services are covered by the student medical insurance.  The best way to find out what is covered is to look at the International or Domestic student brochures or contact United Healthcare StudentResources (https://www.uhcsr.com/  1-800-767-0700).  The most important thing about making sure your services are covered by the insurance is to go to the Student Health Services first for medical services.  If you do not go to Student Health Services first the insurance company will not cover services, unless you qualify for an exception.  If Student Health Services cannot perform a service for you they will refer you to a provider who can perform that service. You do not need to go to the Student Health Service or seek a referral for outside care under any of the following conditions:

1. Medical Emergency. The student must return to Student Health Service for follow-up care.
2. When the Student Health Center is closed.
3. When service is rendered at another facility during break or vacation periods.
4. Medical care received when the student is more than 40 miles from campus.
5. Medical care obtained when a student is no longer able to use Student Health Services due to a change in student status.
6. Maternity, obstetrical and gynecological care.
7. Mental illness treatment and substance use disorder treatment.

Maybe.

If you lose your insurance after the student health insurance has already started for that semester due to a “qualifying event” you may be able to enroll in student health insurance. Some examples of a qualifying event are:

• Turning 26 and being removed from your parents insurance
• Becoming a U.S. citizen
• Losing existing health coverage due to leaving a job

When you have a qualifying event you should immediately contact the student health insurance office at 307-766-3025 or stuins@uwyo.edu.  If you are not certain whether you have had a qualifying event please contact the student health insurance office.  You have 30 days from the qualifying event to obtain, from your prior insurer, a “certificate of credible coverage” and submit the same, along with your enrollment form, to student health insurance.

No.

The student health insurance policy excludes distance students from eligibility. The definition of distance students in the insurance policy does not fit well with all of our programs and we have worked with the insurance company to better define how “distance” can be interpreted to be as inclusive as possible.

No.

You are not eligible to enroll in the student health insurance if you are only in distance, online, home study, outreach or correspondence courses. Our contract with the United HealthCare Student Resources requires that our students be enrolled in a minimum number of hours on the main campus, depending upon their status as undergraduate or graduate students.  This is a common contract provision that saves individual students money by confining the scope of coverage.  Students enrolled in student teaching for the semester are taking a distance course and not eligible to enroll in student health insurance.  We are in negotiations with the insurer regarding undergraduates who are student teaching off-campus and requesting they be eligible for SHI.  In the meantime, undergraduate education students who are off campus teaching their entire last semester prior to graduation and who had SHI the semester prior can contact the provider within 14 days of the end of their policy period and arrange for an up to 90 day extension of coverage.  Graduate students doing an internship or OPT which is away from campus and does not require main campus course work are not eligible to enroll in student health insurance.  Students may be able to find insurance through United Healthcare by direct contact, through other commercial health insurance providers, or by using the US Government’s Affordable Care Act Exchange portal which can facilitate enrollment in health care programs during their open seasons. 

Partially, but limited.

While the student health insurance plan does have a global component, it has some limitations. For example, in most cases foreign healthcare providers will not accept US health insurance in lieu of payment for services. Under the student health insurance plan, students would have to pay for their treatment up front and then seek reimbursement from the student health insurance carrier. In almost every case those services would be out-of-network under the plan as well, meaning the students would experience a much higher out of pocket contribution than their care on campus or with local in-network providers. However, UW purchases international travel insurance for students who are participating in a study abroad activity through UW. The international insurance covers emergency medical needs including providing many services a health insurance plan would not (such as translation services, referral to local providers, advancement of money for deposits or services if the provider will not bill the insurance company) and it provides other services such as evacuation, repatriation of remains, etc. So, although there is often discussion regarding how health insurance applies to study abroad, generally we would look to the international travel insurance for care of students abroad, not to the student health insurance.