Student Medical Insurance Mandate
Health insurance is vital to ensuring access to care and predictable health care costs, as well as aiding students in the achievement of their personal and academic goals. That is why all full-time students who are physically located in the U.S. are required to meet CMU's health insurance mandate each academic year.
To fulfill this mandate students must have insurance that meets university requirements, either through enrolling in the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP), or obtaining a SHIP waiver:
- The enroll/waive process must be completed during a student's Open Enrollment period.
- SHIP enrollments and waivers do not roll over from one academic year to the next.
- If you do not have insurance that meets university requirements you must enroll in the medical SHIP.
- By default, a SHIP placeholder charge is posted to your student account, until you complete Open Enrollment.
- If you do not complete Open Enrollment you will be auto-enrolled in the medical SHIP. Auto enrollments are not recommended, and beginning in Fall 25 will incur a $50 processing fee.
Open Enrollment
Open Enrollment is the period during which students must enroll in the CMU SHIP or apply to waive it. SHIP enrollments, and waiver applications, are submitted through the insurance portal in Student Information Online (SIO).
- Open Enrollment periods correspond with a student's first active semester at CMU each academic year.
- Students who do not enroll or waive during their Open Enrollment period are auto-enrolled in the medical SHIP (not recommended).
- By default, a placeholder charge for the CMU SHIP is posted to each student's account.
- During Open Enrollment this placeholder charge, and payment of this fee, does not indicate a SHIP enrollment.
- Students who apply for and receive an approved waiver will have the placeholder charge credited back to their account.
- Students who enroll in the SHIP will have the placeholder charge credited back to their account. The insurance premium fee will then be assessed for the plans they enroll in (medical, dental, and/or vision).
- If auto-enrolled in the medical SHIP the insurance fee will remain on the account, and beginning in Fall 25 will also incur a $50 processing fee.
- Optional dental and vision plans are available during a student’s Open Enrollment period.
Auto-Enrollment
Students who do not take any action to enroll in, or waive, the CMU SHIP during their Open Enrollment period will be auto-enrolled into the CMU SHIP medical plan.
We strongly recommend that students do not wait to be auto-enrolled:
- Starting in Fall 2025, auto-enrollments will be assessed a $50 processing fee.
- Auto-enrollments are processed 6-8 weeks after Open Enrollment ends, which delays access to your insurance and prescription coverage:
- If you need health care before your enrollment is processed you will likely have to pay for the services, or medication, and submit a claim to the SHIP for reimbursement.
- SHIP dental and vision plans are no longer available. Students can only enroll in these optional plans during their Open Enrollment period.
- Auto-enrollments are processed using the latest U.S. address or campus SMC mailbox listed in SIO. If your insurance card is sent to an outdated address, you will need to request an address change and order a new card.