November 3, 2020
Health Insurance Coverage
You must sign up for the UW International Student Health Insurance Plan (ISHIP) through MyUW first in order to register for classes.
If you meet certain exemption criteria and you have health insurance comparable to the UW ISHIP, you may be eligible to request a waiver of the UW health insurance. Proof of additional health coverage by itself is usually not sufficient for waiving the ISHIP. Submit your waiver form to the ISS office by the tuition due date, the third Friday of the quarter.
Even if you are eligible for the waiver, you must first select the UW ISHIP plan to create a charge that can be waived. If you are eligible for a waiver for more than one quarter, you should select the annual plan to avoid submitting a waiver request each quarter. You will find details and the Insurance Waiver Request Form on the ISS health insurance page.
If you are a graduate student with a research or teaching assistantship, you will sign up for the Graduate Appointee Insurance Program (GAIP), a separate insurance plan that is different from ISHIP. Even though you sign up for the ISHIP in order to register, when you later sign up for GAIP, it will cancel your ISHIP enrollment automatically. Please contact the Benefits Office for more information.
Know your insurance plan, whether it’s ISHIP or GAIP. Medical costs in the U.S. are very expensive, and it is important to understand what your insurance covers.