Domestic Student Health Insurance Requirement
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Domestic Student Health Insurance Requirement
All MSU Denver students taking 9 or more credit hours in the Fall or Spring are required to have health insurance that complies with the University Requirement. If you’re an International Student, please refer to the International Student Health Insurance Requirement.
Domestic students can meet the requirement by fulfilling option A or B.
Option A:
Students can accept automatic enrollment in the University-sponsored Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). There is no need to take any action or to sign up for SHIP.
Enrollment in SHIP is automatic when a student registers for 9 or more credit hours in the Fall or Spring. The SHIP premium is automatically added to a student’s tuition and fee account.
Students who register for 9 or more credit hours, but subsequently drop below 9 credit hours before the waiver deadline, will have the insurance charge removed automatically from their tuition bill and will not be covered by SHIP for the semester.
Option B:
Students insured by a compliant health plan can submit an online health insurance waiver by the deadline to opt-out of the University sponsored SHIP.
Medicaid Plans
Students who have active Medicaid, First Health Colorado, Denver Health Medicaid, or Colorado Access, should submit a waiver right away to opt-out of SHIP, otherwise, the SHIP plan will default as primary insurance and any Financial Aid refund could be impacted when an approved waiver is not submitted by the waiver deadline.
The waiver is required each Fall and Spring semester in order to opt-out. Students can access the waiver submission link within their Student Hub profile.
Details of the Health Insurance Waiver Requirements are explained below.
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Health Insurance Requirement Details
Students enrolled in any Fall or Spring semester, who are registered for 9 credits or more, will have the student health insurance premium applied their tuition bill, and may be automatically enrolled in the student health insurance plan unless a waiver is submitted showing compliant insurance by the Fall or Spring deadline. There will be no automatic health insurance refunds after the waiver deadline. Please see more information under Coverage Dates, Premiums & Deadlines.
Important! Your waiver information is audited each semester for coverage date compliance, any new health insurance plan must be in effect, or active, no later than September 1 for Fall semester and February 1 for Spring semester. The plan must have continuous coverage and meet all of the requirements below.
Personal health insurance must include the following for waiver approval:
- Allow you to receive comprehensive health care services anywhere in Colorado.
- Offer Guaranteed Coverage: Plans must be guaranteed issue during open enrollment, regardless of pre-existing health conditions.
- Have No Annual or Lifetime Limits: There are no limits on the total dollar amount of benefits a plan will pay over a year or person’s lifetime.
- The Out-Of-Pocket maximum does not exceed the current insurance Marketplace individual and family plan limits.
- Cover Essential Health Benefits listed below:
Ambulatory Patient Services
Chronic Disease Management
Emergency Services
Hospitalization
Laboratory Services
Maternity and Newborn Care
Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatments (including behavioral health treatment)
Prescription Drugs
Preventive and Wellness services
Rehabilitative and Habilitative Services and Devices
The MSU Denver Student Health Insurance Plan SHIP includes all the essential benefits listed above under the Affordable Care Act, plus more, including student medical care at the Health Center at Auraria.
The following are examples of health care plans that do not include Ten Essential Health Benefits for care in the U.S., therefore, all submitted waivers with these health plans would not be approved.
- Plans issued outside of the United States of America (USA) or with a foreign phone number. Any foreign plan that requires the member to pay for services in the U.S. and then be reimbursed.
- Travel Plans
- Colorado Indigent Care Program (CICP)
- Limited Plans with annual or lifetime caps on the amount of money the insurer will pay for services, such as a maximum amount the insurer will pay for claims
- Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC Plans)
- Catastrophic Plans
- Short Term Medical Plans (STM)
- Injury Only Plans
- Hospital Only Plans
- Cancer Only Plans
- Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
- Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) without a health insurance plan attached
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