You must maintain required health coverage while being a graduate student by either purchasing health coverage through the university provided heath plan or by providing evidence of alternative insurance that is adequate according to regulations of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The burden of proof that the alternative insurance is adequate falls upon the student choosing to waive. By submitting the waiver form the student will be accepting responsibility for all medical expenses incurred, and neither Northeastern University nor its student health plan will be responsible for these expenses. Each academic year, eligible students may waive NUSHP via myNEU once they have been billed for NUSHP. In addition, to be eligible to waive, comparable coverage must be effective from the beginning of the term the student meets Student Health Program requirements.
Since September 1989, Massachusetts law (M.G.L. c.15A, ยง 18) has required every full-time and part-time student enrolled in a certificate, diploma or degree granting program in a Massachusetts institution of higher learning to participate in a Student Health Program or in a health benefit plan with comparable coverage.
Massachussetts law has been revised to include the following important clarifications.
- A health plan that provides coverage through a closed network of providers (for example, coverage by an HMO) and which is accessible only for emergency services where the student is studying is not comparable coverage. Students may not waive the NUSHP based on such a plan.
- Students studying in the United States may not waive insurance based on coverage through insurance carriers owned and operated outside the United States, nor with coverage through foreign National Health Service programs. Students sponsored by foreign embassies, agencies and organizations are no longer excluded from the requirement for U.S.-based health insurance.
- Students with Commonwealth Care plans cannot waive out of NUSHP. Students who are subject to Student Health Program requirements are not eligible for Commonwealth Care. Students may obtain health insurance through their parents' health insurance offered by their employer or enroll in a Commonwealth Choice plan.