Healthcare & Insurance

Health Insurance:  All INS graduate students receive health insurance, however the specific plan through which they are covered may vary depending on the source of their funding. Therefore, each individual student should verify the plan that is available to them. A basic overview of the available health insurance policies is provided below.  Any INS student with questions regarding their eligibility for these health insurance options can contact Marsha Berkman.

Students in a benefits-eligible position (GRA or TA)

  • Appointments as a GRA or TA of at least 20 hours/week that last 4.5 months make students eligible for the university’s employee insurance benefits (UT Select). You can find more information about these benefits here.

Students on a fellowship or training grant

  • As a graduate student fellow, the first option is to enroll in the medical, dental, and vision plans offered through the student health insurance program, Academic Blue. The Academic Blue Medical plan is underwritten by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, and provides comparable benefits to the university's employee medical plan, at a more fellow friendly price.
  • The second option is to enroll in the university's medical, dental, and vision plans. To enroll in the employee plans, you must be a Graduate Student Fellow) GSF with one or more fellowships awarded on a competitive basis, that either singly, or in combination, are valued at $10,000 or more per year.
  • Since GSFs are not employees and do not receive premium sharing to offset the cost of their medical insurance, the cost of this plan may be prohibitively expensive, when compared to the cost of Academic Blue, depending on the amount they are receiving towards insurance from the fellowship or training grant.
  • You can find more information about these benefits here.

 

Healthcare:  University Health Services (UHS) is located on campus and offers health care services to all registered UT students.  UHS accepts insurance through both providers available to graduate students, as well as most major health insurance carriers and also offers affordable healthcare to any registered student that does not have health care insurance.

MDLive Virtual Visits:  MDLive is an app constructed for virtual visits with doctors anytime, anywhere 24/7 for non-emergency medical and behavioral issues including Primary care, pediatrics, emergency medicine, and family medicine, therapists, psychiatrists, and licensed counselors.  MDLive is available to UT Austin employees with BlueCross BlueShield of Texas health insurance and students with the AcademicBlue student health insurance plan.  For more information visit https://healthpoint.utexas.edu/living-well-programs