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Quick Tips to Know

  • All USC students are required to have health insurance—you will automatically be enrolled in SHIP if you are a full-time student in a degree program.
  • USC SHIP is provided through Aetna Student Health Insurance, a national plan with a number of contracted benefits especially important in college health: insurance-based mental health services, sexual and reproductive health services, gender-affirming care services. It also include a range of therapeutic care coverage, higher level care (in-patient hospitalizations), and vision care services. The entire Keck Medicine of USC system is a Tier 1 contracted provider in USC SHIP, the contracted coverage for this health system and other Tier 1 providers is covered for 90% of costs.
  • If you have your own plan (that meets minimum requirements for regional coverage in Southern California), you can submit a request for a waiver by the fall deadlinethis is typically the Friday of the third week of classes.
  • Waivers must be submitted annually in the fall (for students who begin in the spring semester, submit your decision by the third week of classes in the spring, and then shift to a fall annual schedule the following year)