JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY

2025-2026 Student Health Insurance Plan
ANNUAL WAIVER FORM

Students with health insurance comparable to the university’s health insurance may submit a waiver form by the deadline to opt-out. To be considered comparable, your plan must be filed and approved in the U.S. and must be compliant with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and provide comprehensive benefits.

Generally, only U.S. employer sponsored plans, U.S. health insurance marketplace plans, or embassy sponsored plans are considered comparable.  Plans that do not meet the above requirement include short-term medical plans, healthcare sharing plans, insurance plans from foreign healthcare systems, travel plans, and plans marketed to international students only. Examples of plans marketed to international students that do not meet the requirement include GBG Insurance, HDL Global Specialty, ISO, Tigerless, PGH (United), PSI, Student Medicover, and Tata AIG.

Not all U.S. health plans provide national or comparable coverage. Note, also that many out-of-state HMO, EPO, and Medicaid plans will not provide comprehensive non-emergency benefits in the geographical area surrounding the school. 

• Students insured by out-of-state HMO or EPO plans should contact their insurance company and apply for an away-from-home rider. Most insurance companies offer these riders for students studying away from home. If you attend the Providence campus and have an out-of-state HMO or EPO plan or if you attend the Charlotte campus and have an out-of-state HMO or EPO plan and do not have an away-from-home rider extending your coverage to Rhode Island (for those attending the Providence campus) or North Carolina (for those attending the Charlotte campus), you are permitted to waive with emergency-only coverage, but it is your responsibility to understand any benefit limitations your coverage may impose, and you must acknowledge during the waiver process that you might have to pay out-of-pocket costs or could face higher costs when seeking non-emergency care when outside the state of issuance.  
• Students insured by out-of-state Medicaid plans should be aware that most Medicaid plans do not provide comprehensive non-emergency services outside of the state of issuance. You are permitted to waive with emergency-only coverage, but it is your responsibility to understand any benefit limitations your coverage may impose, and you must acknowledge during the waiver process that you might have to pay out-of-pocket costs or could face higher costs when seeking non-emergency care when outside the state of issuance.  
• Students insured by Medicaid from Rhode Island or North Carolina should ensure they have access to providers near the campus.

If your plan is not active and/or filed and approved in the U.S. and not compliant with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), you will be notified that your waiver form has not been accepted.  You will be responsible for the insurance premium and will be enrolled in the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) upon registering for classes and upon meeting the SHIP eligibility requirements.

To continue the waiver process, please fill out the required fields below:

Please note, your JWU student ID# begins with “J” followed by 8 digits.