JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY

Student Health Insurance Plan
2025-2026 Academic Year

 Eligibility

All undergraduate students, both domestic and international, all international graduate students, and any graduate student required to be enrolled under programmatic requirements (e.g., students enrolled in the Physician Assistant Program, on-campus Occupational Therapy Program, Addiction Counseling or Clinical Mental Health Counseling master's degree programs, etc.), registered and attending Johnson & Wales University and taking credit hours (excluding full-time Johnson & Wales employees) are eligible and enrolled in the plan on a hard waiver basis. Whether a student is “registered” and “attending” shall be determined exclusively by Johnson & Wales University. 

Except as otherwise provided herein, the student must actively attend classes for at least 31 days after university classes start to remain eligible. If a Named Insured ceases to be eligible within the first 31 days from the start of classes, coverage will be terminated back to the effective date for which coverage is purchased.

Home study, correspondence, and online courses do not fulfill the eligibility requirements. Notwithstanding anything herein, eligibility requirements of students enrolled in the university’s in-person programs shall not be impaired based solely on attendance of classes through an online, remote, or virtual learning environment (1) in the case of a declared federal or state public health emergency that would require online, remote, or virtual learning, or (2) in the case of attendance via online, remote, or virtual learning due to an accommodation for a disability granted by the university.

Plan Highlights

The student health insurance plan (SHIP) is an ACA (Affordable Care Act) compliant plan insured by United Healthcare Student Resources (UHCSR) and includes access to United’s national PPO network. Additional plan information is located on the left side of this page.  

 Insurance Cost & Coverage Periods

Waiver Process

All students who are required to have health insurance will be charged and/or invoiced for the SHIP unless they waive coverage prior to the invoice date. Students with comparable health insurance may waive SHIP coverage by submitting a waiver form by the applicable deadline. Students are only charged upon registering for classes and meeting the SHIP eligibility. To be considered comparable, a plan must:

• Be filed and approved in the U.S. and compliant with the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
• Provide comprehensive benefits, including non-emergency benefits in the geographical area surrounding the student’s campus of enrollment.

If the plan does not meet the requirements, students will be notified that their waiver form is not accepted and will be required to provide evidence of a compliant plan or be enrolled in the SHIP. Please click the waiver form on the left for additional information about the waiver requirements and comparable plans. 

Students who miss the waiver deadline will be enrolled in the SHIP and be responsible for paying the insurance premium for fall semester and spring semester should they maintain eligibility. Students who are eligible for the SHIP in the fall but do not submit a waiver by the fall deadline cannot submit a waiver later in the academic year. They will be enrolled in the SHIP and be responsible for paying the insurance premium for both fall and spring should they maintain eligibility during that academic year. The spring and summer semester/term waiver form is only available for new students.

 Enrollment Process

All eligible students who do not submit a waiver form by the posted deadline will be automatically enrolled in and charged for the JWU Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). Eligible students who wish to be enrolled in SHIP do not need to take any action. Students must maintain eligibility as students each semester to remain enrolled in annual coverage.

We encourage students to compare all other insurance options. Healthcare.gov is an online health insurance marketplace where students can compare and purchase health insurance plans. Students may qualify for a low-or-no cost government-funded health insurance plan, although such a plan must be comparable to SHIP for a student’s waiver to be approved.