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The University of Missouri offers health insurance to support the medical needs of graduate students. Students must re-enroll each semester for on-going coverage.

Student Health Insurance

MU Health Care is currently negotiating with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. Current policy coverage will remain unchanged through the end of the spring 2025 plan coverage period. Policyholders can check muhealth.org/anthem to follow the progress of negotiations. 

Benefits and Claims Questions

For those new to health insurance, this glossary of health coverage and medical terms may be helpful. For questions about the student health insurance policy and specific areas of coverage, contact insurance representatives at the Student Health Center at 573-882-9107.

Eligibility

Enrollment is voluntary for students who are U.S.-citizen or permanent residents.

International students with F or J visa status are automatically enrolled in the international plan.

Insurance Requirements for J-1 Scholars

International students with visas other than F or J are required to carry the insurance and must enroll.

Insurance Requirements for International Students

When to Enroll

Fall Enrollment Period: New or Continuing Students

Students must be registered for classes (minimum of one credit hour) to enroll in the insurance program.

Students who register for fall classes in April or May should be able to enroll in insurance by June.

The enrollment deadline for fall coverage is early September.

International students with F or J visa status are automatically enrolled in the international plan when they register for classes.

Other international students are required to carry the insurance and must enroll.

Check the Anthem Website for Specific Enrollment Deadlines Insurance Requirements for International Students

Spring and Summer Enrollment Period

Students interested in or required to have insurance coverage must re-enroll for the spring and summer after registering for at least one credit hour for spring semester.

The spring insurance also covers the summer session. The enrollment deadline for spring/summer coverage is early February.

Check the Anthem Website for Specific Enrollment Deadlines

How to Enroll

Graduate student medical insurance is issued by Anthem Student Advantage.

  1. Anthem offers detailed information about Mizzou’s plan.
  2. After selecting an insurance plan, enroll through myZou. Spouses and dependents must be enrolled using the Anthem website.
  3. Students must re-enroll at the beginning of each semester to continue receiving semester-by-semester coverage.

Enroll through myZou during registration.

If you enroll through myZou, the charge for the insurance premium is added to your student account. Please be aware that you are held to the cashier’s payment schedule for the insurance premium, the same as for any other charges

  • Log into myZou using your username and password.
  • Once  in the “Student Center”, if you have tiles, click on the “Financial Account” tile and choose “Optional Fees” in the left navigation bar. If you do not have tiles set up, you should see your class schedule on the “Student Center” page. There is a drop-down menu to the left of the schedule. Select “Optional Fees” from the drop-down list (about 2/3 down).
  • When you click on “Optional Fees” and hit the >> button, choose the current term. You will see a table of options.
    • To enroll for fall, choose the fall option.
    • If you are enrolling in the spring semester, choose the spring. The coverage is for both spring and summer–there is no spring-only coverage. Only new students starting in the summer can enroll in the insurance to begin in the summer.
  • Check the appropriate box and click on “Submit” at the bottom of the page. You should see a message confirming successful enrollment.

Please make sure that your address in myZou is current. Update your address in Personal Information in your myZou account. 

Get Your Insurance ID Card

Once it has been about 2 weeks after enrolling in the student insurance, you should be able to go onto the Anthem website and get your student health insurance ID card.

For questions about how to enroll in student health insurance or the medical insurance subsidy program, contact:

Karen Gruen
Graduate School
gruenk@missouri.edu
573-884-2326
210 Jesse Hall

Costs & Coverage

The cost of the insurance premium depends on the choice of plan, the duration of coverage and the number of family members covered. If you include dependents on your plan, you must first be enrolled in your own plan. Then, you must complete a dependent verification process as part of your enrollment to determine eligibility. To enroll dependents, you must enroll using the Anthem website.

Consult the Anthem website for detailed information about:

  • Types of Plans
  • Rates
  • Dates of Coverage
  • Provider/Doctor Search
  • Prescription Benefits
  • Travel Assistance
  • Dependent Coverage

Dates of Coverage

Fall semester coverage for domestic students begins August 15. If you enroll after August 15 but before the September deadline, coverage is retroactive, beginning August 15.

Season Coverage Dates:

  • Fall semester coverage ends in early January.
  • Spring semester domestic insurance coverage ends August 14.
  • Spring/summer semester coverage begins right after the fall semester coverage ends, so there is no lapse in coverage as long as the student enrolls by the spring enrollment deadline.

Coverage for international students begins August 1. If you enroll after August 1 but before the September deadline, coverage is retroactive, beginning August 1.

Seasonal Coverage Dates:

  • Fall coverage ends December 31.
  • Spring insurance begins January 1.
  • The spring/summer insurance coverage ends July 31.

Payment Dates

If you enroll in the insurance policy through the Office of Cashiers or through myZou and the premium is added to your student account, your first payment will be due when your first University bill is due.

To enroll a dependent into the student medical insurance coverage, you need to be enrolled in the student insurance first via the Office of the Cashiers or MyZou, and enroll your dependents on the Anthem website.  The dependent insurance premium is not subsidized.

MU Student Health Fee

The Student Health Center is available to all full-time students, and the mandatory student health fee is automatically charged to accounts of graduate students taking at least seven hours of courses.

Part-time graduate students who do not want to use the Student Health Center and do not pay the student health fee can enroll in the insurance policy but will pay a higher deductible.

The Student Health Center is a provider for the insurance plan and also maintains a list of other participating providers for the insurance plan.

Coverage for Children

If you cannot afford the premium the insurance plan that provides coverage for your children, you may choose state coverage. The State of Missouri offers a Health Insurance Program for Children, entitled MC + for Kids for low-income families who do not have access to affordable health insurance. This program does not count student loans, grants, work-study, fellowships, or parental support as income to meet the low-income eligibility requirement.

Coverage for Traveling Internationally

Anthem has partnered with GeoBlue for International Travel Coverage. You will need to register using the following Group Access Code: GTB9999ACM28 when registering.

Subsidy Program

Students in qualifying graduate research, library, and teaching assistantships; graduate fellows, graduate instructors; and fellowships may be eligible for a medical insurance subsidy.

To be eligible for the subsidy program, a graduate student must meet the following requirements:

  • Enrollment in Student Accident and Sickness Insurance, which is available to all Mizzou students
  • A student in a graduate assistantship or fellowship position with at least quarter-time (.25 FTE, or 10 hours per week) responsibilities and with a minimum stipend at the amount set each year by the University
  • A qualifying title, as defined by the Graduate Faculty Senate
  • Enrollment in a graduate degree program, working toward a master’s, doctoral, or educational specialist degree
    Note: Professional degree students (law, medicine, veterinary medicine, occupational therapy, physical therapy) are not eligible for this subsidy from the Graduate School.

The subsidy will apply only for the semester during which the student holds an assistantship and/or fellowship. The student is responsible for paying the insurance premium for all other semesters.

A student who holds a qualifying position in the spring semester automatically receives insurance coverage and the subsidy for the summer even without a qualifying summer position.

The subsidy will be credited to the student’s University account after enrollment in the insurance policy and eligibility for the subsidy program have been verified. For eligible students in a .50 FTE assistantship (or a combination of 2-.25 assistantships) or a university fellowship at the level of a .25 FTE assistantship, they qualify for a subsidy that covers the full cost of the individual student insurance plan. For eligible students in a .25 assistantship only, they qualify for a subsidy that covers 50% of the cost of the individual student insurance plan. However, students with assistantships or fellowships enrolled for the first time in Summer 2022 or later can be in a .25 assistantship ONLY if they have a second .25 assistantship or equivalent fellowship.

It typically takes approximately 1-2 weeks from the time the student enrolls in the insurance plan and the student account is charged until the insurance subsidy is credited to their account. If the subsidy is not applied to the account within two weeks, contact the coordinator, Karen Gruen, at