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Graduate Staff Insurance Enrollment FAQs

July 1 through September 5 - ends 5 p.m. ET September 5
Newly eligible graduate staff have 30 days from their hire/eligibility date to enroll.
This information is provided to assist with questions regarding enrollment into graduate staff benefits.

AHP Account

Click Here to go to the Home(Enroll) page, then click "I need to change/continue coverage or update my contact information".

You must also update your employment record in SuccessFactors with Purdue.  Click Here for a quick reference guide.

Enrollment

Click Here to go to the Home(Enroll) page, then click "I want to enroll or apply for a waiver".

Enrollment and waiver links will only be available during the annual open enrollment period beginning in July and during the spring enrollment period beginning in December.  Deadlines are announced closer to those periods.

New Hires/Newly Eligible

You will not be able to enroll without first contacting your department to complete payroll information so that your eligibility is recognized by Human Resources and then communicated to Academic HealthPlans (AHP), the portal in which you can enroll in medical and dental benefits.  You must also have a valid Social Security Number in the system before you can access Benefitfocus, the portal in which you can enroll in voluntary benefits.

Once the above has taken place, you will receive separate emails from AHP and Benefitfocus with a link to enroll and will have 30 days to do so.  If you are waiting to be assigned an SSN, you may not receive an email from Benefitfocus.  Please reach out to hr@purdue.edu after some time has passed from submitting your new SSN to your business office if you are not able to access Benefitfocus.

If you are offered a benefits-eligible graduate staff position with Purdue in August or September while Open Enrollment is going on (more information below), you still have 30 days from hire to complete your enrollment (meaning the open enrollment deadline may not negatively impact you). 

Annual Open Enrollment

Each year, Purdue University holds an open enrollment period beginning in July in which you may enroll in graduate staff benefits for the academic year*. 

* Benefits are only in effect while you are eligible; therefore, if you lose that eligibility (e.g., loss of graduate staff assignment funding or eligible student status), your medical/prescription and dental benefits will end on the last day of the month in which you were eligible. Graduate staff voluntary benefits will end on the last date you were eligible.

This is your only opportunity to enroll in graduate staff benefits for the entire academic plan year without a qualifying event (i.e., involuntary loss of coverage on another plan). 

Scenario 1) You have a fall-only appointment that ends in December and then happen to get another in January.  You do not get a new chance to enroll because your graduate staff benefits eligibility is continuous (coverage would term at the end of December and begin again at the beginning of January, so there would be no break in coverage).

Scenario 2) If you have a fall-only appointment that ends in December and then happen to get another in February or later, there would be a break in coverage and therefore you would be able to enroll in graduate staff benefits.

Medical & Prescription

Domestic Graduate Staff
You are not required to take Purdue's insurance.  You will not be able to enroll in graduate staff benefits until the next open enrollment (July) without a qualifying event (i.e., involuntary loss of coverage on another plan), or you may enroll in the domestic student health insurance plan in December for spring coverage.

International Graduate Staff
Purdue University requires all international students, regardless of visa status or insurance policy type to participate in a University-sponsored medical insurance plan or to obtain an approved waiver of coverage. Failure to enroll or obtain an approved waiver may negatively impact your legal status per federal immigration regulations.

If you do not enroll or receive an approved waiver by the enrollment deadline, you will not be able to enroll in graduate staff benefits until the next open enrollment (July).  A hold will be placed on your academic record, which affects your ability to register for classes, obtain transcripts or graduate.  You will also be assessed a $200 late-enrollment fee. If you have missed the enrollment deadline, you must contact the Student Insurance Office in PUSH at (765) 496-3998 to pay the late fee and enroll in the international student health insurance plan to remove the hold.  

Voluntary Benefits

All Graduate Staff
Any elections you made in the previous enrollment period will remain in place for the next plan year.  Otherwise, you will not be able to enroll in graduate staff voluntary benefits until the next open enrollment (July).

When enrolling through the Academic HealthPlans (AHP) portal, you will have the option of purchasing a semester or the entire academic year of coverage.  Payment can be made by bank draft for no additional fee.  AHP also accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express for a 3 percent additional fee.

If you have an account with PFCU, Click Here for instructions on obtaining your account number for bank draft payment.

When you enroll, you agree to automatic premium payments to AHP on a monthly basis; however, payments can fail (e.g., due to non-sufficient funds in your account).  When this happens, you will be contacted by AHP and will have 30 days from the original payment date to resolve the issue.  If you do not, you will be terminated from the plan and will not be eligible to enroll in the graduate staff medical plan for the remainder of the academic year. 

Domestic Graduate Staff
You may enroll only in the student health insurance plan in December for spring coverage.

International Graduate Staff
You will have an academic hold placed on your record (prevents you from getting transcripts or graduating) and must pay a $200 fee to PUSH and enroll in the student health insurance plan in order to remove the hold.

Review Timeline and Resources which details what to expect following enrollment.

Medical, Prescription, Vision, and Dental

Once you are no longer eligible for graduate staff benefits or the student insurance plans, you may continue your medical insurance coverage, provided that you have been insured for at least 3 continuous months on the plan.  You must decide how many months of coverage you want to continue (up to three) and you must submit the entire premium for those months within 30 days after your existing coverage terminates/you lose eligibility.

Click Here to go to AHP's Home (Enroll) page and go to "I need to change/continue coverage" to apply for continuation coverage.

Medical, prescription, vision, and dental benefits will terminate at midnight on the last day of the month in which you were eligible.

Other Voluntary Benefits

Voluntary benefits terminate at midnight on the last day you were eligible (such as your last date of employment).

You can only change your benefits outside of open enrollment with a qualifying event (e.g., gain or loss of coverage under another plan, birth of a child, marriage, divorce).

Click Here to see if you have a qualifying event.

Click Here to enroll or change your benefits if you have a qualifying event.

If your event impacts voluntary benefits (other than dental) and you want to change those benefits, you will also need to register a life event with the voluntary benefits enrollment portal, Benefitfocus.  Click Here for more information and instructions.

Benefits

Click Here to go to the Home(Enroll) page, then click" I need to find a provider".

Click Here to go to the Home(Enroll) page, then click "I want to learn how insurance works".

To review your benefits information (e.g., deductible, coinsurance, copays), visit the Benefits & Cost page.

To find pricing on medical and prescription services, log in to www.uhcsr.com/myaccount 

Mail Order RX

Click Here for dental.

In order to allow for a transition in coverage, UHCSR is allowing members currently receiving care from an in-network Anthem provider which is out of network with Choice Plus / United Behavioral Health, up to 12 months of coverage of services (not to exceed the 2022/2023 policy year) at the in-network benefit level.

Out-of-network providers have up to 12 months to enter into an in-network agreement with Choice Plus / United Behavioral Health. Please refer to the attached provider referral document for your provider to begin the process of becoming in-network.

You can complete a medical or specialist provider search to check if your provider is in-network or to search for other in-network service providers by clicking here. The network for the medical plan is UHC Choice Plus. 

You can access a complete list of mental health providers (292 unique providers serving at various locations) that are in-network with Optum Behavioral Health UHCSR within Tippecanoe County. You can complete a provider search for other locations or other services by clicking here. The network for mental health services Optum Behavioral Health.

International Students

Contact your business office or payroll center to request a Social Security Request DocuSign form for F-1/J-1 Students. The office will complete the form and route it to the Office of International Students and Scholars (ISS) for a signature. You will then be provided with additional pick-up instructions and information about Social Security Administration Office contact for scheduling an appointment directly with them.  For more information, visit the ISS Resources and Requests page.

Click Here to review additional information on PUSH’s waiver page, including next steps if your waiver request was denied.

You must contact the Student Insurance Office in PUSH at (765) 496-3998 to pay the late fee and enroll in the international student health insurance plan to remove the hold.  (If you missed the deadline to enroll in graduate staff benefits, you may not enroll in them again until the next open enrollment period in July)