Post by Phoebe Moon, GIC Peer Mentor 2021
Living in Irvine as a foreigner is not always a cakewalk, but healthcare is probably one of the most essential and persistent, yet mysterious topics. Especially if you come from a country with a universal healthcare system, like me, you will be even more confused. Check out the Student Health Center website for more detailed information on healthcare at UCI. You can also find more specific information for incoming students and international students on the website.
Graduate Student Health Insurance Plan (GSHIP)
All graduate students must have health insurance to be enrolled in a UCI graduate program. If you don’t have health insurance coming in, you are automatically enrolled in GSHIP, and the insurance fee will be charged as a part of your quarterly enrollment fee through your ZOT account. I assume most of you will be in this category if you come from outside of the U.S. However, if you have a separate health insurance plan you want to remain a part of, you can waive GSHIP. Your health insurance has to be comparable to the one offered by UCI. Make sure to check your eligibility and deadline for waiving GSHIP. Even if you waive GSHIP, you can still go to the Student Health Center, but the fee you pay maybe a bit higher. You can find the summary of benefits and coverage for 2020-2021 here.
Health Insurance for Family Members
Some of you may be coming to Irvine with a family. If you choose to, you can put your family members as dependents of your insurance plan with an extra fee that UCI does not support, even if your school pays for your health insurance. You are required to provide documentation to prove the dependent status: for example, a marriage certificate for a spouse and a birth certificate for a (natural) child. However, while GSHIP is a great plan for your dependents, the fee is quite steep. If you are looking for a more affordable option, check Covered California.
UCI Student Health Center
Student Health Center is located right next to the Law School and is open 8 am – 5 pm on weekdays except on Wednesdays (9 am – 5 pm). It closes on the holidays that the UCI campus closes. During the COVID-19 closure, they are offering Telehealth appointments through Zoom. Usually, most appointments are made through the Student Health Patient Portal except for services like chiropractic, but it only takes very restricted types of appointments at the moment such as COVID-19 vaccination and testing. You can call them at (949) 824-5301 to make appointments if you can’t see what you need at the portal.
Whatever you are looking for, your first stop needs to be the Student Health Center unless it’s an emergency. If the Student Health Center cannot provide the care you need, you will be referred to an outside provider. In this case, you will need to make an appointment with the outside provider and contact the insurance office (shc-insurance@uci.edu or 949-824-2388) to ask them to send your referral to the outside provider.
ImmunizationYou will be interacting with a lot of people around the world once you come to UCI. To ensure everyone’s health, UCI has always required immunization records from incoming students as well as TB screening if you are eligible for it. This year, there are two additions to what the campus normally requires. First, for you to be on campus physically in the Fall quarter, you will need to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Also, flu vaccinations may be mandatory this year for you to be on campus. You can see the complete list of required and recommended immunization here. Once you obtain all the immunization records, you can go to the Student Health Patient Portal, upload your documents, and fill in the forms. You can find additional immunization information here.