How to Enroll or Waive

Coverage is Required: All registered students must have medical and dental insurance – either Caltech insurance or other insurance that meets Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC).

Eligibility

If you’re a registered Caltech undergraduate or graduate student, you’re eligible for Caltech student medical, dental, and vision insurance.

If you are enrolled in a non-degree program with the Graduate office, you may be eligible for insurance.

• To determine your requirements, please visit the Graduate office page for non-degree programs.

For an additional charge, you may also enroll your spouse or California state registered domestic partner and eligible dependent children.

Learn About Your Options

• Use this website to review and understand your options before enrolling.
• View benefit and coverage details in the benefits guide.
• Access guides and additional information for medical, dental, and vision coverage to learn about the plans available to you.
• Look for your plan type on the CMS Minimum Essential Coverage List to see if your health plan qualifies for a waiver.
• Check out the resources section on this site for FAQs, additional resources, and more.
• If you’re thinking about waiving medical coverage, consider:
  • Will you have coverage on your current plan while you are at school?
    • For example, if you have an HMO or other managed care plan, coverage is often limited outside the home region. It’s important to ensure if you have in-network primary care, urgent care, and specialty providers near campus.
  • How do referrals/authorization work on your current plan?
    • For example, if your parent’s plan is an HMO or other managed care plan, you may need to coordinate through a primary care provider at home which can create delays, especially for specialty care, mental health services, or imaging.
  • What are the true total costs beyond the premium?
    • If you are considering waiving the student plan for premium savings, you should think through potential out-of-pocket costs, including deductibles, copays, and especially out-of-network care or hitting the out-of-pocket maximum. In some cases, lower premiums can be offset by higher costs if care is needed way from the home network.
  • If you are planning to study or travel abroad, does your current plan cover medical services outside of the country?
    • The Caltech Medical, Dental, and Vision plans all offer coverage while traveling outside of the US. Once you return home, you can submit reimbursement claims for services received abroad.

What to Know

• All of Caltech’s student plans are effective from September 1 to August 31.
• Student Wellness Services is available to you, even if you waive Caltech medical coverage.
• You may waive Caltech’s medical and dental insurance only if you have other insurance that meets Minimum Essential Coverage.
  • If you are studying abroad, you must meet additional requirements.
• If you don’t decide to waive coverage by the deadline, you’ll automatically in medical and dental coverage for the entire academic year. The applicable costs will be charged to your bursar’s account. You will not be automatically enrolled in vision insurance; if you’d like vision coverage you need to actively enroll.
• The medical and dental plans are separate offerings. You may waive medical but enroll in dental, or waive dental and enroll in medical.
• You may only enroll or waive coverage outside of the enrollment period if you experience a qualifying life event (e.g., loss of coverage, marriage, or birth of a child). You have 60 days from a qualifying life event to make changes to your coverage.
• Dependent coverage and vision insurance must be actively enrolled each year. Automatic enrolled does not apply regardless of previous enrollment status.

What to Know

• Each summer, eligible students must decide to enroll in or waive the student medical and dental plans.
• If you are a returning student under a Caltech insurance plan, you must make new choices for the upcoming academic year.

Waiver Requirements:

• Caltech requires all students to maintain active health insurance that meets federal Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) requirements. To see if your health plan qualifies for a waiver, look for your plan type on the CMS Minimum Essential Coverage List.

  • Minimum Essential Coverage, or MEC, is a baseline level of health insurance that meets Affordable Care Act standards and helps cover important care like doctor visits, hospital stays, and preventive services, so you have support for everyday health needs and protection from major medical costs if something unexpected happens.

How to Enroll and/or Waive Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage

• Click the Enroll/Waive Now button at the top of this page, or use this link: https://www.studentenroll.anthem.com/school/caltech
• Log in to your existing account or, if you have not accessed the site previously, register and create a new account using your Caltech email address.
• Once you are logged in, you have two options:
  1. Enroll yourself and/or your dependents in Caltech’s student medical, dental, and/or vision plans.
  2. Waive coverage for yourself under Caltech’s student medical and/or dental benefit plans.

Enrollment/waiver questions or issues:

During the summer enrollment/waiver period, contact Anthem at sae_member_support@anthem.com or (833) 332-0797 M-F (8 – 6pm PT).

Contact the Caltech Benefits Office when it is outside the enrollment/waiver period at hrbenefits@caltech.edu or (626) 395-6443.

What to Know

• If you graduate, withdraw, or take a leave of absence, you must provide notice within 30 days that you would like to terminate your Caltech insurance coverage on the first day of the following month. Otherwise, coverage will terminate at the end of the insurance trimester unless you are on a registered leave:
  • Fall: September 1 – December 31
  • Winter: January 1 – April 30
  • Spring: May 1 – August 31

Extending Coverage When You Go on a Leave
You can request an extension to continue your medical, dental, and vision coverage for up to 3 consecutive insurance terms.

• Review the below information to understand the cost and process to extend your coverages:
  • For medical leaves, the cost you pay is based on the rates in effect for each academic year, which may change if your 3 consecutive terms span more than one year.
  • For detached duty, you are considered enrolled and remain eligible for benefits.
  • For personal leaves, you pay the full cost.
  • If your leave goes beyond consecutive terms, you may purchase medical continuation coverage for up to 6 months at the full cost.
• To extend your coverage, please contact the Benefits Office at hrbenefits@caltech.edu.

Continuation Coverage When You Graduate, Withdraw, or Exhaust a Leave of Absence
When your Caltech medical coverage ends because you graduate, withdraw, or exhaust an approved leave of absence, you may purchase medical continuation coverage for up to 6 months at the full cost.

• Visit the Anthem Student Advantage website to enroll, review costs, and pay premiums.
• Please note: Dental and vision coverages remain active until the end of the plan year (August 31), but they are not eligible for continuation coverage beyond that date.