Health Insurance

Voluntary plans cannot be assessed to any student account. They need to be paid at time of enrollment, via credit card or electronic check, to United Healthcare. Voluntary plans are non-refundable, regardless of enrollment status.

To learn more about how to enroll in the SHIP, please visit United Healthcare and enter your school’s name to navigate to specific information regarding the enrollment process on your campus. Voluntary plans include dental, vision, and student health insurance for students outside of these required categories.

The University System of Georgia requires all students in the above categories to have reasonable, comparable, creditable coverage to the current system-wide student health insurance plan provided. The following minimum benefits must be included in your plan to be considered for a waiver.

International Students in the F-1 and J-1 student or scholar statuses must have a minimum of the following benefits:

• Both accident and sickness coverage
• Minimum benefit $250,000 per policy year**
• A deductible of $500 or less and/or co-pay per individual, per year*
• In-patient and outpatient, mental and nervous disorder benefits
• Prescription drug coverage
• Pay benefits worldwide
• Medical evacuation to one’s home country and family reunification of not less than $50,000*
• Provision for repatriation of remains of not less than $25,000*
• All Georgia mandated requirements+
  *Federal standards required for international students

Domestic Students must have a minimum of the following benefits:

• Both accident and sickness coverage
• Minimum benefit $500,000 per policy year**
• Coverage for all pre-existing conditions
• Reasonable deductible ($3,250 or less) and/or co-pay per individual, per year
• In-patient and outpatient, mental and nervous disorder benefits
• Prescription Drug Coverage
• Pay benefits worldwide
• All Georgia mandated requirements+
• Emergency coverage in Georgia (This eliminates most other state’s insurance coverages.)

**To meet the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements, your health plan should have no annual benefit limits. (These requirements are based on the federally-mandated requirements of the ACA.)

Georgia mandates coverage for the following benefits to be paid as any other sickness:
Mammography, PAP Smears, Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Tests, Chlamydia Screening, Mastectomy, Bone Mass Measurement, Colorectal Cancer Screening, Dental Anesthesia, Diabetes, Surveillance Tests for Ovarian Cancer, Telemedicine, Drug Treatment of Children’s Cancer, Bone Marrow Transplants, Postpartum Care, and Mental Illness.

Students who already have comparable insurance coverage can apply to waive the insurance requirement. A comparable plan is one that meets the minimum requirements indicated in the above list. Your plan will be verified to determine if your coverage meets the minimum requirements.

Once a student is assessed the student health insurance charge(s) on their student account they are loaded into the United Healthcare portal the following morning. To waive coverage, go to the United Healthcare portal, select WAIVER COVERAGE, validate your identity, complete the multi-factor authentication, add your personal health insurance information, and complete the self assessment questionnaire. United Healthcare will automatically evaluate your information submitted to determine if your health insurance plan meets the University System of Georgia requirements to have your charges waived. If your waiver request is denied, you may complete an appeal with United Healthcare for an additional review of your plan. Decisions made by United Healthcare are final and cannot be overturned by Savannah State.

Note: Waiver deadlines are strictly enforced so plan accordingly.

Student athletes that do not waive the SHIP charges will be assessed an additional Sports Rider coverage that goes towards college sports injuries. This coverage is not included in the regular SHIP coverage plan. For questions regarding this sports rider insurance, including how to submit a claim, contact the sport trainer in our Athletics Department.

Once you enroll in a voluntary plan or in the regular domestic/international SHIP plan for that semester, you can log into your United Healthcare account to obtain your insurance card and submit an insurance claim.

Please note that SSU will not enroll students into the SHIP plan until after the waiver period for that semester ends. If you plan to use your coverage prior to the waiver end date, opt-in to the plan for immediate usage. If you have difficulties or your SSU coach needs validation of the insurance, please email the team at [email protected]