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New Student Health Insurance Regulation - effective August 2006
Recently, the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy approved changes
to the Qualified Student Health Insurance Program (QSHIP) regulations.
QSHIP governs student health insurance requirements for all students and
all colleges and universities in Massachusetts. Students cannot waive with
international carrier insurance for the 2006/2007 academic year and going
forward.
Effective August 1, 2006, the revised QSHIP regulations include a requirement
for all students to purchase a comprehensive health insurance policy from
an insurance carrier based in the United States. As a result, MIT Health
Plans no longer allows students to waive the MIT Student Extended Insurance
Plan with insurance policies that have a carrier based outside of the United
States.
An exception to this rule includes students studying in a foreign country.
Students spending their full term studying in a foreign country can subscribe
to an international or domestic carrier plan that will cover them in the
country where they will study and live.
The United States Information Agency (USIA), which administers the Exchange Visitor Program requires that all students with MIT visa sponsorship and their dependents have adequate health insurance that continues for the entire period of their stay in the United States. International students who are injured or become seriously ill are not eligible for assistance from the US government. Furthermore, Massachusetts law requires international students to have hospital insurance that meets specified minimum standards.
Since the MIT Student Health Plan exceeds these Massachusetts
standards, all regular registered international students, as well
as international students registered as special students taking 27
or more units, are automatically enrolled in both parts of the plan,
which includes:
- MIT Student Medical Plan:
free as part of your tuition
- MIT Student Extended Insurance
Plan: provides excellent hospital coverage and other
services at a reasonable cost. If you already have health
insurance that covers you in the United States and meets
Massachusetts standards, you can choose to waive your extended
insurance coverage.
For more information, please contact MIT's International Student
Office at 617-258-5483 or by email at
iso-help@mit.edu.
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