Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,
At DePaul, our students always come first. We’re committed to supporting the academic success and wellbeing of our students, and we’re excited to announce that starting next fall, DePaul will offer students access to a comprehensive and competitive health insurance plan. President Rob Manuel shared this news last week at Academic Convocation, and I wanted to follow up with a few more details.
Providing access to a comprehensive health insurance plan directly answers a need the student community – particularly graduate, international and out-of-state students – identified and brought forward to university leadership. In order to offer a competitively priced plan, DePaul is implementing a student health insurance requirement for all degree-seeking students beginning Fall 2024.
The plan covers physical and behavioral health services and provides access to care in the Chicagoland region. If students currently have adequate coverage, they can opt out of the university’s health insurance plan. The process for opting out will likely begin toward the end of the spring quarter.
This step toward ensuring a healthy and successful academic career for students would not have been possible without the work and advocacy of the Student Health Insurance Task Force and the Student Health Insurance Advisory Committee. I want to extend my appreciation for the time, care and patience these committees brought to this process.
Concerns from students and faculty led to the formation of the task force in Spring 2022. The group, which included faculty, staff and students, conducted research and provided recommendations to move forward in identifying a student health insurance plan. This work then resulted in the creation of the Student Health Insurance Advisory Committee in Fall 2023. The committee identified the scope and parameters of a student health insurance plan and sent a request for proposal to identify a preferred health insurance provider.
We expect to share more about the insurance plan, cost and implementation timeline later in the fall quarter and will continue to communicate with you actively throughout the year. We hope you join us in our excitement of the addition of this new student health resource in helping to Take Care DePaul.