Written by Aly Rogers
Among all the arrangements necessary to secure housing, organize your move to campus, and register for classes, you may have questions about health insurance, as it can be quite a complicated topic! This week, I’m going to quickly cover the basics about the UCI-provided Graduate Student Health Insurance Plan, the on-campus Student Health Center, and a brief note about immunization requirements. Check out the links included for more information, or just start at the health center website: https://shc.uci.edu
Graduate Student Health Insurance Plan
All UCI students are required to carry health insurance as a condition of enrollment, which will help pay for medical expenses like prescription drugs, general check-ups, or mental health care through the Counseling Center. UCI provides a student health insurance plan, which all students are automatically enrolled in and charged for on a quarterly basis. If you have your own health insurance that meets the minimum requirements, you can keep it, but you will need to waive the UCI Graduate Student Health Insurance Plan. If your health insurance fits the criteria outlined in this worksheet, you may choose to keep it as it may provide better coverage or cost less.
The Graduate Student Health Insurance Plan is much the same as the UCI Student Health Insurance Plan, but the specific information you will need is collected in the GSHIP Benefits page. This explains all the medical benefits covered by GSHIP including pharmacy, behavioral health, dental, and vision care. For a short and easy-to-read version of this, read the Plan Snapshot; for a more detailed explanation, you can sift through the Explanation of Benefits booklet, which is a comprehensive explanation of how to interact with Anthem, the company who provides GSHIP, what treatments are covered, and how to add a partner or child, as well as other administrative details.
UCI Student Health Center
The Student Health Center is open to all registered students, regardless of their insurance provider. Fees may differ if you are using a different insurance program than GSHIP; details on that may be found on the health center’s FAQ page.
The Student Health Center is a comprehensive clinic housing primary care physicians and registered nurse practitioners, as well as a physician’s assistant and registered nurses. The Student Health Center also provides dental care, and other specialists like gynecologists, dermatologists, and psychiatrists are available on a regular basis. The Health Center also provides basic laboratory services, making it a centralized point of contact for the majority of students’ health needs. Should you need care that is unavailable from the Student Health Center, a provider there can refer you to a community provider. For more information about Health Center services, including office hours and how to make an appointment, peruse the Student Health Center website, where you will also find the Student Health Portal. The Student Health Portal is the main way to contact the health center to schedule appointments, receive lab results, or request pharmacy refills. If you prefer to use your smartphone, the StudentHealth app is a simple tool that can be found in the App Store or Google Play and registered to your student account. Finally, for after-hours medical advice, the After-Hours Advice Nurse line is available to all registered students at (877) 351-3457.
Immunizations
As a new student who will be interacting with many people all across campus and sitting in crowded lecture halls, you are strongly encouraged to be fully immunized. Some immunizations are required for enrollment; these are listed on the Health Center website. If you have your immunization records, you can enter them in the Student Health Portal, where your medical records are secured and linked to your student account. Alternately, you can attend the Immunization Fair early in Fall quarter. The immunization fairs are often very crowded, so if possible, most people prefer to get any remaining vaccinations over the summer.