Health Benefits
Voluntary Dental Insurance
This year the dental insurance enrollment deadline is September 25, 2022.
Dental insurance premium is fully covered for PhD students. Through our contract, GAGE won this new benefit for PhD students employed by Georgetown. Our contract win pushed the Administration to cover the cost for PhD students on non-service stipends, as well - check with your program director if you’re non-service. The dental premium cost is not covered for Masters students, but it is among the most affordable dental insurance options available through the market.
All Georgetown students - whether they are an undergraduate, Master’s student, or PhD student - use the same form to sign up for dental insurance. The charge will appear on your student account. After the charge appears on your account, the Graduate School will add funds to cover the charge for PhD students.
Enrollment dates and coverage dates for dental insurance are listed on the Student Health Insurance website.
Vision Insurance
Vision insurance is opt-in and costs $10.98 per month. In our contract, we have secured that this benefit will remain available; however, all graduate workers have to pay for this benefit out of pocket.
When enrolling for vision insurance, select Georgetown University from the dropdown menu for “School” and press Next, then click “Elect this coverage” under Vision Coverage.
Please note that the dental insurance listed on the Gallagher webpage is NOT the same as the dental insurance we won in our contract, and it is not free for PhD students. We recommend only using Gallagher for Vision insurance.
Mental health care
On campus: Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) offers a variety of services. Individual therapy sessions are $10 per session.
Off-campus: Because of GAGE’s contract, CAPS created a tailored directory of off-campus therapists specialized in student mental health. Go to the Community Referral Database webpage.
Student Health Insurance or ‘Premier Plan’
Student Health Insurance is opt-out, which means it is automatically charged to everyone’s student account. Even so, you need to activate coverage by submitting the acceptance form. If you use another health insurance plan and do not want to use Student Health Insurance, you have to opt-out to be approved for a waiver and get the charge removed. If you want to start using Student Health Insurance partway through the year (e.g., if you turn 26), you should sign up for the whole year during open enrollment period (usually it starts in July and ends September 15).
The full cost of Student Health Insurance premium is covered for PhD graduate student assistants. Because of GAGE’s contract, the Out of Pocket (OOP) maximum for in-network benefits was decreased from $5,000 to $3,000 per person, and $6,000 per family. The contract also reduces the OOP maximum for out-of-network benefits from $12,500 per person to $8,000 per person.
You can use the UnitedHealthcare StudentResources website to search for in-network providers (Find Medical Provider/Estimate Cost -> Healthcare Provider or Facility) and use an online claims portal for out-of-network claims reimbursement.
CareFirst Medical Insurance
PhD students receiving service stipends have the option to enroll in CareFirst BlueChoice Advantage CDHP through the Georgetown Management System. The deadline is typically in November and coverage begins in January. If you enroll in this plan, you will have money deducted from your stipend to pay for this insurance. Georgetown graduate dean office sends an email about this plan annually. For reference, you can view a copy of the 2020 email here.
Health Advocate
Health Advocate is a resource for navigating the U.S. healthcare system, such as finding in-network doctors and resolving medical bill issues. Because of our contract, Health Advocate membership is free and automatic for graduate workers by using your Georgetown login information. When you access Health Advocate, you must use zip code 20007.
