Please be sure to read this in its entirety. Health insurance does not start on the first day of employment!
- Health Benefits Overview (Faculty/Staff/Graduate Assistants and paid international visitors)
- SHIP Option (Graduate Assistants and international visitors)
- Graduate Student Automatic Enrollment Waiver (Fall Semester only)
You have 60 days from starting employment as a new employee to choose your benefits program. Enrollment for benefits will be completed via the State of Maryland Employees Benefits Portal. You cannot enroll until you receive a series of emails from the State that will include your user name (known as a “W” number) and a temporary password. Once you receive this information, you can enroll in benefits. Please note that these emails can take up to 30 days from your start date to be sent to you. This process cannot be expedited in any way.
- Effective Date of Coverage: Benefits will be effective on the first of the month following your hire date. The exception is if your hire date is the 1st day of any month. Then, your effective date will be the 1st of the month that you started work. Coverage may NOT be backdated to your date of hire.
- Processing Time: Normal processing time for online benefits requests can take between 30-60 days from hire for your benefits to become active. Various factors include receiving the enrollment information from the state benefits office, the time frame you take to submit your request, and your response to additional information that the state may request after you submit your application.
- Required Documentation for Dependents: If you are enrolling dependents such as a spouse or dependent children, please see the following required documentation. Employees will be required to upload documents in the SPS Workday portal when enrolling in coverage. Please note the requirements for adding a spouse: Official State marriage certificate (must be a certified copy and dated by the appropriate State or County official, such as the Clerk of Court).
Regardless of when you enroll within your 60 days of hire, your benefits coverage will still be effective on the first of the month following your date of hire. If it applies, you will be responsible for paying any mandatory retroactive adjustment payments for periods of coverage back to your benefits effective date.
Even though your coverage will become effective the 1st of the month following your hire date you will not receive your benefits cards until the State of Maryland Employee Benefits Division has processed your online request. If you have a medical need during this time you may be required to pay out of pocket for these services by your medical providers. If you pay out of pocket for a service, it may be possible to submit claim forms for reimbursement.
- Benefits and Wellness: https://uhr.umd.edu/benefits-and-wellness
- Health Benefit Enrollment: https://uhr.umd.edu/benefits-and-wellness/health-plans/health-benefit-enrollment
SHIP Option (Graduate students and international visitors)
Graduate students and international visitors have another health insurance option (Student Health Insurance Plan [SHIP]) through the University Health Center (UHC). This is not employee health insurance through the State of Maryland nor sponsored through the University Human Resources (UHR). Any student can sign up for SHIP through the Health Center regardless of employment. If you do not want to enroll in our employee health insurance and do not have coverage elsewhere, the SHIP plan is another excellent option. More details regarding SHIP are linked here.
Health Insurance Automatic SHIP Enrollment (Fall Semester ONLY)
Health Insurance Requirement: All full-time registered graduate students at College Park must have health insurance.
Automatic enrollment in the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) will begin in August when students register for classes. The cost will be billed to their student accounts. Students with insurance must submit an insurance waiver to avoid automatic enrollment and automatic billing.
Graduate assistants appointed by the start of pay period 4 are exempt from the automatic billing and waiver process because most will opt into the State of Maryland plan.
IMPORTANT: Just so you know, students appointed a GAship after pay period 4 are subject to automatic SHIP enrollment. If you prefer to enroll in the State of Maryland plan, you must submit an insurance waiver before the deadline located on this page: https://health.umd.edu/insurance-and-billing/mandatory-insurance-and-waiver