Undergraduate and graduate students who take in-person courses must be covered by health insurance that meets the standards set by Student Affairs. This requirement does not apply to online students.
MICA Student Health Insurance Policy
As part of our commitment to foster optimal health and wellness for our students, MICA has a mandatory student health insurance policy in place for all students. If you have private health insurance that is comparable to the school-sponsored plan, you may waive out of the insurance. If you do not have private health insurance, or it does not provide coverage in the Baltimore, MD area, you will need to enroll in the insurance. The policy requires students attending MICA to maintain health insurance coverage that covers them every day of their higher education career. This policy helps to ensure that students do not have to make a choice between continuing their education and paying medical bills.
Student Health Insurance and Healthcare Reform
To support this requirement, MICA has sponsored an Aetna Student Health Insurance policy that is fully compliant with the federal regulations under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as healthcare reform. These requirements included an extensive list of preventative services that must be provided with no additional cost sharing, as well as other benefits that reduce the out-of-pocket expense of the insured. This school-sponsored plan provides the robust schedule of benefits required under these regulations as well as benefits that are specific to the population at MICA.
Cost of the Student Health Insurance and Financial Aid
The cost, including all administrative fees, of the school-sponsored student health insurance plan is approximately $3,500 for effective dates August 1st-July 31st. If you will be enrolling in this plan and are applying for financial aid, please keep this cost in mind when completing your loan requests. Your award letter will list the maximum amount of any loan that you (or your parents) may be eligible to receive. The Financial Aid Office can increase any PARENT PLUS loan, GRAD PLUS loan, or private educational loan to include student health insurance costs. If you want to have these loans increased to cover the cost of your student health insurance, please email the Financial Aid Office at finaid@mica.edu and let them know.
We recognize that the cost of health insurance affects everyone and MICA is providing access to this plan to assist students in controlling their health insurance expenditures. By partnering with Aetna and RCMD, our student health insurance administrators, we ensure MICA students have access to an ACA-compliant policy that costs less than what can be found in the marketplace for comparable, individual health plans.
Next Steps/Deadline to Respond
On or around July 1st, a communication will be sent to you from our insurance administrator RCMC with detailed information regarding the health plan, exact costs, and details on how to enroll in or waive out of the school sponsored plan.You must complete the waiver or enrollment no later than September 11th in order to avoid a financial penalty. If you do not take any action by September 11th, you will be automatically enrolled in the school- sponsored plan. Students who are fully online/remote are exempt from the health insurance requirement and will NOT be auto-enrolled the MICA student insurance plan.
Wishing you good health and success,
William MacDonnell
Director, Student Health Center
Maryland Institute College of Art
You may visit www.rcmdstudentbenefits.com for additional information on the student health insurance program and answers to frequently asked questions.
Health Center Costs and Billing Update
MICA’s Student Health Center strives to ensure students have access to a wide range of health services while keeping costs low and the experience simple. That’s why the Center is in network for most major insurance carriers — we automatically bill all services and charges related to each visit directly to insurance so you don’t have to worry about costs or payments. We even cover any deductible costs that insurance may require. Co-pays, which are not covered by insurance, can be paid via credit card or can be automatically added to your bursars account, so you never need to have money ready at the time of your visit.
For returning students, please note that co-pays had previously been covered by MICA, but new regulations require us to make a change in that policy. For your convenience, your copay amounts can either be paid at the time of service via credit card or can be added to your student bursars account.
In almost all cases, insurance co-pays are minimal and significantly less than the deductible MICA continues to cover on your behalf.