[Faculty] Fwd: Important Changes to the Graduate Student Health Insurance Program

[Temesgen Garoma]


Dear Colleagues,

I have received questions from some of you on insurance coverage for international grad students. While the SDSU GSHIP for domestic students is on pause for the 2022/23 AY, the International Anthem Student Advantage Insurance program is not impacted by the pause. You can purchase the coverage for your international grad student, and the students can get more in about the program from the SDSU International Student Center.

Thank you 
Garoma 

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Provost Salvador Hector Ochoa and Vice President J. Luke Wood" <shs at comms.sdsu.edu>
> Date: July 29, 2022 at 5:15:59 PM PDT
> To: tgaroma at sdsu.edu
> Subject: Important Changes to the Graduate Student Health Insurance Program
> Reply-To: "Provost Salvador Hector Ochoa and Vice President J. Luke Wood" <reply-fef21c79766001-1676_HTML-90541276-514018185-4 at comms.sdsu.edu>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dear faculty colleagues, 
> 
> As you are aware, in fall 2021, the university implemented a comprehensive program aimed at ensuring domestic graduate students, meaning non-international students, enrolled in graduate programs at San Diego State University and SDSU Imperial Valley, have health insurance coverage. The program also provided qualifying students the option to enroll in the university-negotiated health insurance plan, Anthem Student Advantage.  
> 
> If you planned on using grant funds to pay for insurance through the SDSU negotiated plan for your graduate students, this message will apply to you. 
> 
> While we planned to continue the Graduate Student Health Insurance Program (GSHIP) during the 2022-23 academic year, we have made the decision to pause the program. Following feedback from stakeholders, the pause will allow us to engage students in further discussion about coverage options to better meet their healthcare needs, which remains a top priority. 
> 
> With the halting of GSHIP, domestic graduate students will not be able to enroll in the Anthem Student Advantage insurance program during the upcoming 2022-23 academic year. However, outlined below, individual outreach is underway to ensure students in need of healthcare coverage are connected with alternative options. 
> 
> With this announcement, it is important to note that the International Anthem Student Advantage program is not impacted. We continue to strongly encourage students to secure health insurance, and will be working to connect them with alternative healthcare coverage options. 
> 
> What does this change mean?
> 
> While all graduate students are strongly encouraged to secure health insurance, especially as federal law (the Affordable Care Act) and the state of California have related requirements, students will not be required to submit proof of insurance for the 2022-23 academic year. 
> 
> Next Steps 
> 
> As the Anthem Student Advantage plan will not be available for the 2022-23 academic year, we are aware that this may cause funding issues on certain grants and are working with the university and the SDSU Research Foundation on a resolution.
> 
> As your students have questions, or support needs, direct them to connect as soon as possible with SDSU’s Student Health Services by shs at sdsu.edu or 619-387-8943‬. Our goal remains in helping to ensure that our graduate students have access to insurance, and coverage for their families. Students can also fill out the online Healthcare Connection Coordinator Virtual Assistance form to be connected with assistance. 
> 
> We thank you, again, for all of the support you are offering to our graduate students, and look forward to continuing to collaborate on improving the overall student experience. 
> 
> Salvador Hector Ochoa, Ph.D. 
> Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs 
> 
> J. Luke Wood, Ph.D. 
> Vice President for Student Affairs and Campus Diversity
> San Diego State University
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