Health Insurance Coverage for Doctoral Students at the CUNY Graduate Center
Doctoral students at the Graduate Center who meet certain conditions are eligible for health insurance coverage.
The health insurance is made available through the Student Employee Health Insurance
Program (SEPH) component of the New York State Health Insurance Program. Graduate Center doctoral students join SUNY doctoral students in the Student Employee Health
Insurance Program and receive the same coverage.
Who is eligible?
Three basic requirements must be met for Graduate Center students to be eligible for the health insurance coverage.
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First, the students must be matriculated in a doctoral program at the Graduate Center.
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Second, they must be employed at CUNY as Graduate Assistants A, B, or C or as adjuncts (teaching- or non-teaching or as CLT’s).
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And third, they must earn at least $4,200 a year in one of those titles. If they are employed for just one semester, they must earn at least $2,100 to be eligible.
Adjuncts (or non-teaching adjuncts) are eligible in the semester in which they are teaching or otherwise working, as long as they earn at least the minimum
amount for plan coverage (currently $2100 a semester). Students who are enrolled in the health insurance plan in the Spring semester can be covered over the summer. They will be given a form to complete during the spring semester which will allow extra deductions to be taken to extend coverage for the summer months.
How do I enroll ?
To request a NYSHIP enrollment form, please send an email to healthinsuranceinfo@gc.cuny.edu. Students who are employed in eligible titles at the Graduate Center or one of the Senior Colleges can request NYSHIP enrollment forms by sending an email to healthinsuranceinfo@gc.cuny.edu. General inquiries about the coverage and about eligibility can be emailed to this address as well.
Doctoral students who are appointed in one of the relevant job titles by a CUNY Community College will need to switch to the state payroll (administered through The Graduate Center) to be eligible for health insurance coverage (rather than the city payroll of the community colleges). To initiate this switch, please send an email to aellis@gc.cuny.edu.
How much does the plan cost?
In Spring 2009, the premium was set at a bi-weekly rate of $5.74 for individual students and a bi-weekly rate of $51.73 for family coverage (with coverage possible for spouses,
domestic partners, and children). The money will be automatically deducted from the enrolled students’ bi-weekly paychecks. The plan is heavily subsidized by the state
of New York and the CUNY Central Office.
What does the plan cover?
For full information on plan coverage, as well as a list of participating providers, follow this link to the NYSHIP web site:
www.cs.state.ny.us/ebd/ebdonlinecenter/gseu/bensum08.cfm
If you have specific concerns about the coverage, you can visit the NYSHIP web site or you can contact Ms. Elise Perram, Associate Director
of Student Affairs, at 212-817-7400 (eperram@gc.cuny.edu).
Information for international students
Students who plan to take on CUNY employment need to make sure that they have Social Security numbers. These are a necessary precondition to
students obtaining employment. International students who currently have Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) but who plan to seek CUNY employment should contact the
Office of Human Resources for guidance on how to proceed.
