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Student Health Insurance About the Student Health Insurance Plan

American University requires all full-time students, all students who live in AU housing, and all international students with F-1 and J-1 visas to carry personal health insurance. Students in these required categories are automatically enrolled in the AU student health insurance plan offered by Aetna. The 2023-2024 annual premium of $2,302 is automatically assessed to your student account. The coverage period is from August 1, 2023 through July 31, 2024.

If you are covered under another comparable health insurance plan, you can waive the university-sponsored student health insurance plan by submitting a waiver. Information on the waiver is available here.

Student Health Insurance will be provided by our provider, Aetna, for the 2023-2024 policy year.

The Rates for the 2024-2025 Policy Year
  Annual Fall* Spring/Summer Summer
Student $2,302 $962 $1,340 $579
Spouse/Partner+ $2,302 $962 $1,340 $579
Each Child+ $2,302 $413 $1,340 $579
All Children+ $4,356 $913 $2,530 $1,098
         

*Fall Only coverage is only available to students in one-semester programs at the university. Students who graduate in December may contact the AU Central in December and once we verify your graduation, we will provide a refund. You must contact the university before December 31st to receive a refund.

*Spring waivers are only accessible to incoming students that have been admitted to the spring semester

+ Spouse/Partner and dependent coverage must be paid directly to Aetna once the student's enrollment is complete and cannot be broken into installment payments.

Health Insurance Questions and Answers

Yes. If you have been charged the premium for the student health insurance plan and want to accept the coverage, you will need to go to the Academic HealthPlans site starting July 1 to complete an insurance enrollment form. This will ensure that your coverage will begin on August 1st. If you do not complete the enrollment form, your insurance coverage willl not begin until the waiver process ends.  

If you are not in one of the categories that requires insurance, but you are enrolled in at least 6 credit hours, you are able to voluntarily enroll in the student health insurance plan. Please complete this form.   Your student account will be billed for the health insurance. Academic Health Plans (AHP) will contact you when you are able to complete the enrollment form with the health insurance carrier, Aetna.

The student health insurance includes limited pediatric dental benefits (for students under age of 19) and vision benefits.

Dental and Vision insurance can be purchased on the Academic HealthPlans site. Dental and vision insurance cannot be billed to your student account. The enrollment deadline for fall is September 18th.

All full-time students, students living in university-sponsored housing at American University, and students with an F1 or J1 visa are automatically enrolled in the Student Health Insurance Plan. If you were automatically enrolled in the Student Health Insurance Plan based on the number of credit hours you are taking, it's important for you to contact our office if you drop any classes. If you were full-time and drop to part-time status, you'll lose your health insurance benefits. To prevent this, you'll need to contact the student health center so we can make sure the charge for health insurance remains on your student account.

All students – undergraduate, graduate, and law – taking six or more credit hours are eligible to enroll in the Student Health Insurance Plan.

If you are covered by your parents' plan or have other coverage with comparable benefits to the AU plan, you probably wouldn't need the AU insurance plan. Before you waive, you might want to review the specifics of your current policy and compare them with the AU plan. Some of the basic information you might want to compare is:

  • Annual cost: Is the AU plan less expensive for the amount of benefits offered than your current plan? 
  • Deductible amount: How much you will pay out of pocket before your insurance pays?
  • In-network and out-of-network benefits: Does your insurance consider specialists in DC in-network or out-of-network?
  • Prescription drug benefits: Does your plan include coverage for prescription drugs?
  • Coverage abroad: Does your plan include coverage when you travel abroad?

Simply complete an online health insurance waiver before the designated waiver deadline. See the Insurance Waiver Information page.

Yes. You must waive the AU Student Health Insurance Plan at the beginning of each academic year. 

If you graduated in the Fall, you can request to cancel the Spring portion of insurance coverage. To do so, please email aucentral@american.edu before January 31. Please make sure your record reflects your graduation. The last date of coverage for the Fall term will be December 31. 

To receive your insurance card after August 1, you can create an account with Aetna. You will only be able to do this after completing the enrollment form online with Academic HealthPlans. Please note, there may be a delay in accessing your insurance card if you did not complete the enrollment form before August 1. 

Yes. AU understands that you might not be alone when coming to AU. With that in mind, you can purchase health insurance for your spouse, domestic partner, or dependents. After you are enrolled in the insurance plan by completing the online enrollment for, you will be able to add a spouse, domestic partner, or dependents to your plan. To complete the enrollment form or add dependents, please visit Academic HealthPlans.

If you have questions about your health insurance benefits and are already enrolled in the plan, please contact Aetna . If you have questions about the status of your health insurance waiver, please visit the Academic HealthPlans American University site. There are options to call or chat with a representative. For questions about the health insurance fee and your AU student account, please contact AU Central at aucentral@american.edu

Waiver Requirements
 
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View Waiver Requirements