Health Insurance Policy

As a condition of enrollment, University of San Francisco (USF) requires students to have health insurance, both to protect against unexpected high medical costs and to provide access to quality care. The following students will be charged the health insurance premium on their Student Account as a separate fee.

All undergraduate domestic students registering for 9 credit hours or more (EXCEPT Certificate programs and Online programs students)
All graduate domestic students registering for 6 credit hours or more (EXCEPT Certificate programs and Online programs students)
All international students and scholars registering for at least 1 credit hour or more

Open waiver/enrollment periods

Fall semester: June 27 through September 1
Spring semester: November 30 through February 1

Opting out (waiving) the health insurance requirement

Students who have coverage comparable to the University-endorsed Student Health Plan may be eligible to waive this requirement each academic year. Waiver requests MUST be submitted during the open waiver/enrollment periods. Waiver requests made after the open waiver/enrollment period ends will not be approved, and the charge for the insurance will remain on the Student Account. Waiver criteria and instructions are listed on the HPS website.

Domestic students must waive this requirement online directly with the Health Insurance Company.
International students must waive this requirement with the Health Promotion Services online form to ensure that their health insurance policy meets the minimum requirement established by the University of San Francisco, and the United States federal government regulations.
Students are expected to maintain comparable health insurance coverage at all times. If a student’s health insurance coverage is dropped, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the Health Promotion Services to discuss her/his options within 72 hours.

Continuous waivers

Each Academic year, student covered by comparable health insurance must opt out during the waiver/enrollment period. Waiver requests never extend beyond the Academic year.

Students who waive the health insurance requirement during the fall semester will automatically waive coverage for the entire Academic year, and do not need to waive the requirement again during the spring semester. However, these students may request to enroll in the Spring by visiting Health Promotion Services during the spring semester open waiver/enrollment period.
Students who waive health insurance requirement for the spring semester must waive again the following fall semester.
Students are charged per semester for the insurance premium. The premium is not covered by your tuition. It will show up as a separate fee on your student account.
The insurance premium cannot be pro-rated for fall and spring semesters.

Waiver Approval/Denial

If the student waiver is approved, the student’s account will be credited within 10 business days accordingly. However, if a student uses the health insurance, then waives it later or takes a leave, or withdraws from school, the student is responsible for the health insurance premium and/or all her/his medical bills for that particular semester. A continuing student will be recharged the health insurance premium if s/he has outstanding and paid claims with the insurance company.

If the waiver is denied, students must contact Health Promotion Services within 72 hours of the waiver denial to discuss their options. Please call 415-422-5797 or hps@usfca.edu.

Health Insurance coverage dates

Student coverage will become effective at 12:00 AM on the coverage start date and will terminate at 11:59 PM on the coverage date indicated below:

Fall Semester: August 1 to December 31
Spring Semester: January 1 to July 31

Please note: Continuing students will not have any lapse of coverage if they register for classes during their registration

Voluntary Enrollment

Students registered for at least 3 units are eligible to voluntarily purchase the USF student health plan per semester (fall or spring semesters) during open waiver/enrollment periods. Request for voluntary enrollment made after the end of the open waiver/enrollment period will be declined.

In addition, students with an official Leave of Absence (LOA) or are in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program are eligible to purchase the USF student health plan per semester for up to one (1) academic year.

To determine eligibility, students submit a request to voluntarily purchase the USF student health plan.

Qualifying Life Events

Students who lose their health insurance coverage in the past 30 days may qualify for a Special Enrollment in the University-endorsed health insurance plan. Students must provide proof of loss of coverage in a form of a letter from their former health insurance plan.

If students lose coverage outside the open/waiver enrollment period, we strongly encourage them to contact Health Promotion Services within 72 hours of loss of coverage to discuss their enrollment options.

Examples of qualifying life events:

Termination of employment
Termination of the other health plan
Death of the spouse
Legal separation, divorce or annulment
Reduction of hours of employment
Employer contributions toward a health plan were terminated
A child no longer qualifies for coverage as a child under another health plan

Summer Students

New students who begin their enrollment during summer sessions are NOT automatically enrolled in, and NOT billed for, the University-endorsed student health insurance plan. These students should purchase their own health insurance to protect themselves against unexpected high medical costs and to have access to quality care.

These students also have the option to purchase the University-endorsed student health insurance plan. The process to enroll in the plan is based on when a student begins their summer session at USF.

Summer Semester Early Arrivals (June 1 through July 31):

These students can be enrolled in the expiring student health insurance plan through July 31 only if they will be continuing students in the fall semester. Students will need to contact HPS to verify early arrival status and students will pay the insurance provider directly. The rate is prorated. It will take up to ten business days to be enrolled in the health insurance plan upon contacting HPS.

The deadline to enroll into the summer plan is May 31.

Please note: The plan deductible will restart for these students on August 1 if they enroll in the USF-endorsed student health insurance plan for the following academic year.

Automatic Loss of Student Health Coverage

Reduction of Credit Hours

Students who drop credit hours below the credit hours listed above (9 hours for domestic undergraduate students, or 6 hours for domestic graduate students) during USF’s school enrollment period, will no longer be required to purchase or waive the student health coverage, and coverage will be removed. This is true for both Fall and Spring semesters. Students who reduce credit hours and are no longer required to purchase or waive the student health coverage may be eligible to enroll under the Voluntary Enrollment process as described above.

School Withdrawal

All students who withdraw from school are NOT eligible to purchase the University-endorsed health insurance plan. Students who withdraw before census day and get a full refund, they will not be covered by the student health plan. Students who withdraw after census day, and get a partial tuition refund, will not receive a Health Premium refund, and will be covered by the student health plan for the rest of that particular semester.