As an MIT student, you may buy health insurance coverage from MIT for your family members, including your spouse or partner and/or children. You must show documentation to prove that each family member is eligible. More information on eligibility and documentation is below.
What plans are available to my family members?
Your family members can enroll in the same MIT Student Health Plans as you:
- The MIT Student Medical Plan provides access to most services at MIT Medical with no copay and no additional charge, including primary care, urgent care, and X-ray and laboratory testing.
- The MIT Student Extended Insurance Plan meets state health insurance requirements and picks up where the MIT Student Medical Plan leaves off. It covers prescriptions, specialty care outside of MIT Medical, hospitalizations and medically necessary emergency room visit.
Family members may enroll in the MIT Student Medical Plan only, or they may enroll in both plans together.
To enroll your family members in the MIT Student Medical Plan only, you must show that they already have comprehensive insurance like the MIT Student Extended Insurance Plan from a U.S.-based insurer.
To enroll your family members in the MIT Student Extended Insurance Plan, you must also sign them up for the MIT Student Medical Plan. You cannot buy only Extended Plan coverage for your family.
How do I enroll my family members?
You can enroll family members in the MIT Student Extended Insurance Plan online. (Enrollment in the Extended Plan automatically includes MIT Student Medical Plan enrollment.) If you’re enrolling family members during an open enrollment period, click on “Family Enrollment.” If you’re enrolling family members at another time of the year due to a qualifying event , click on “Dependent Petition to Add.” Fill out and submit the form. If you are enrolling family members for the first time, you will need to upload supporting documentation.
You can enroll family members in the MIT Student Medical Plan as long as they have other, comprehensive coverage. Contact the MIT Health Plans Office (E23-308) for more information. Walk-in hours are from 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., M–F, or contact the office by phone (617-253-4371) or email (stuplan@med.mit.edu).
When can I enroll my family?
You may enroll your family members in MIT health insurance plans only at specific times during the year—either during “open enrollment” periods or when a “qualifying event” occurs.
Open enrollment periods
You may enroll your family members in MIT health insurance plans during these two open enrollment periods every year:
- FALL: July 15–August 15: Buy family coverage for the full academic year (September 1–August 31)
- SPRING: December 15–January 15: Buy family coverage for the spring term (February 1–August 31)
Qualifying events
Outside of open enrollment periods, you may enroll your family members in MIT health insurance plans only if a “qualifying event” occurs. You may also make changes to your own coverage when a qualifying event occurs; for example, if you have been covered under a parent’s insurance plan, and that parent loses his or her job and insurance coverage, you may enroll in the MIT Student Extended Insurance Plan at that time. You may also enroll in the Extended Plan when you turn 26 and become ineligible to be covered under your parent’s plan.
You must show documentation of the qualifying event and make any changes to your coverage within a specified time limit — 60 days if a family member loses coverage under another insurance plan, 30 days for all other qualifying events. The changes you make to your insurance coverage must be related to the change in your circumstances (such as adding coverage for a new spouse, new domestic partner, or new baby).
Qualifying events that allow enrollment of family members or other coverage changes include:
|
Event |
What You Need To Do |
|---|---|
|
Marriage: You marry and want to add coverage for your spouse |
Provide a copy of your marriage certificate. |
|
Employment termination: Your spouse or spousal-equivalent partner stops working or changes jobs and loses the insurance coverage he or she had from the previous employer. |
Provide a letter from the former employer stating that the employer has stopped providing insurance coverage to your spouse or spousal-equivalent partner and giving the date on which the coverage stopped. |
|
Arrival from another country: Your spouse or spousal-equivalent and/or dependent children arrive from another country for the first time |
Show your family members’ passports (not a photocopy). |
|
New baby: You have a baby, and you need to add the baby to your coverage. |
Tell us the baby’s name and date of birth, and provide a copy of the baby’s birth certificate. |
|
New dependent child added to family: This may be an adopted child, stepchild, or child for whom you have just made legal guardian. |
Tell us the child’s name and date of birth, and provide necessary documentation. |
Questions about qualifying events? Ask us!
MIT Health Plans Office (E23-308)
617-253-4371
stuplan@med.mit.edu
Eligibility and Documentation
| Family Member | Documentation Needed |
|---|---|
|
SPOUSE: A person to whom you are legally married. |
Marriage certificate showing your name and spouse’s/partner’s name |
|
SPOUSAL-EQUIVALENT PARTNER: A same-sex or opposite-sex partner you have lived with for at least four months. |
|
|
DEPENDENT CHILD(REN) up to 26 years of age, including any of the following: |
|
|
• Birth child |
Birth certificate showing child’s name and your name |
|
• Adopted child |
Adoption certificate showing child’s name, child’s birthdate, and your name |
|
• Stepchild: The biological or adopted child of your spouse or spousal-equivalent |
Birth certificate or adoption certificate showing child’s name, child’s birthdate, and your spouse’s/spousal-equivalent’s name and Marriage certificate showing your name and spouse’s/partner’s name |
|
• Child for whom you are the legal guardian |
Proof of legal guardianship and birth certificate |
|
CHILD OF ANY AGE WITH A PHYSICAL OR MENTAL DISABILITY that prevents the child from earning his or her own living |
Appropriate documentation as listed above for DEPENDENT CHILD (birth child, adopted child, stepchild, or child for whom you are the legal guardian) and certification of disability |
|
CHILD OF AN ENROLLED DEPENDENT CHILD (as defined above) |
Appropriate documentation as listed above for enrolled DEPENDENT CHILD (birth child, adopted child, stepchild, or child for whom you are the legal guardian) and birth certificate showing name of child and name of your enrolled dependent child as parent |
|
CHILD RECOGNIZED UNDER A QUALIFIED MEDICAL CHILD SUPPORT ORDER: Child for whom a state court or agency has issued an order requiring a health plan to provide insurance coverage. |
Qualified medical child support order and child’s birth certificate |
|
DIVORCED SPOUSE |
Copy of final divorce decree signed and dated by the judge, specifically the: · Cover page listing the parties involved · Page(s) that refer to health insurance, and · Signature page. |
Questions about eligibility for family members? Ask us!
MIT Health Plans Office (E23-308)
617-253-4371
stuplan@med.mit.edu
Canceling family coverage
During the open enrollment period, you may change your mind and cancel coverage. After that, you cannot cancel existing coverage until the next open enrollment period begins.
For example, if you buy coverage for your family members for the year (September 1–August 31), you can change your mind and cancel only until the fall open enrollment period ends on August 15. After that, if you want to cancel your family’s coverage, you will need to wait until the next open enrollment period begins on December 15. At that point, you can cancel your spring term coverage.
