Health Insurance

All students have access to comprehensive insurance coverage through UT. Options differ, depending on the nature of students’ funding.

Use the Health Insurance Flow Chart to explore the different insurance options available from UT.

The UT Board of Regents requires that international students in F-1 and J-1 visa categories be covered by health insurance; therefore, international students receive automatic charges for health insurance on their tuition and fee bills. Students may request an insurance waiver if they are covered by an alternative insurance policy that meets the basic requirements of the UT Health Insurance Plan. More information can be found on the ISSS Health Insurance webpage. 

To help you understand using the different health insurance plans on campus in case of an injury, follow the Minor Injury Flowchart. 

Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) also known as Academic Health Plans

All currently enrolled UT students are eligible for the UT student health plan from Academic Health Plans. 

This insurance is purchased for one semester or the entire academic year, but there are options for monthly gap coverage when students are transitioning to or from UT Select employee insurance.

Domestic students must purchase SHIP on their own by going to the enrollment page of AHP. For domestic students receiving a fellowship that contains health insurance supplement, students must purchase health insurance on their own and will receive a scholarship payment equal to the cost of the student health insurance plan at the beginning of the semester. 

International students will be automatically enrolled in this insurance if they do not complete a waiver, and the charges will appear on their tuition bills. ISSS adds a 5% administrative charge to all insurance rates for international students. International Student Insurance Costs. See more on insurance waivers below. 

Spring Graduation

International students planning to graduate in the Spring semester who will be on SHIP for the Spring will need to waive Summer SHIP insurance. See more on insurance waivers below. 

Enrolling Family Members

To enroll a family member in SHIP, you will need to follow the instructions on the MyAHP website at the time of enrollment. However, international students will be enrolled in SHIP through the international office, and will need to call MyAHP directly to enroll family members. 

Summer SHIP

Students can buy this insurance for the summer only, even if they are not enrolled in the summer (for instance, if they are going on an internship in the summer). When enrolling online, students will need to indicate that they are registering for at least one credit hour to make the system work, but this will not be audited and enrollment is not a requirement of UT Austin.

Gap Insurance

When transitioning from a fellowship to an academic employment, domestic students often need to purchase Gap Insurance between semesters (more on this, below). This can be done through SHIP, and is now entirely online. On the "Enrollment" page of AHP, scroll down to UT Gap Coverage. You will be able to purchase SHIP monthly. 

You will also need a supporting documentation that you need only 1 month of SHIP insurance. You can request this supporting documentation from the graduate coordinator using the official letter qualtrics. 

UT Select Employee Insurance

Student employees (GRAs, TAs, AIs) are eligible for employee health insurance during the dates of their employment. Additionally, benefits-eligible spring TAs or AIs with active assignments on May 31 will keep their UT Select coverage for the summer, even if they do not have an assignment and are not enrolled during the summer. This is not the case for GRAs. Student Employee Insurance.

Graduate student fellows (those with competitive fellowships of $10,000 or more per year, internal or external) are eligible to purchase UT group insurance pay the full rate, with no premium sharing.

Students can enroll in the insurance within 31 calendar days of starting a new fellowship, or during Annual Enrollment in July.

To see what benefits you are enrolled in, go to the My UT Benefits page and login. Employment rules and benefits are found here: https://gradschool.utexas.edu/finances/student-employment/conditions.

Send questions to the HR Service Center hrsc@austin.utexas.edu or 512-471-4772.

If you are a 20-Hour TA in the spring semester, your out-of-pocket insurance expenses (not the premiums) for the entire summer will be taken out of your June paycheck (for working the month of May), regardless of your summer employment status. If you do not want this to happen, and if you will be employed in a benefits-eligible position over the summer, you will need to complete a Cancellation of Pre-Payment for Summer Insurance Coverage form sometime in early May (scroll to almost the bottom of the page). 

After Graduation

If students were benefits-eligible and enrolled in employee health insurance, they are eligible for COBRA continuation coverage. International students are also eligible for SHIP continuation coverage as of January 2020 for 3 months.