Students Who Already Have Health Insurance

Spring Waiver Status: OPEN 

Open Feb. 14, 2024 through April 14, 2024 11:59pm

Access the Spring Waiver

Spring 2024:  You may do an insurance waiver as long as you have adequate health insurance in place at the beginning of Spring term. The waiver is for domestic students taking 5 or more Spring credits (1 or more if an International student).  If you already have an approved waiver on file from Fall 2023 or Winter 2024, you do NOT need to do a new waiver until next Fall of 2024. The Spring waiver deadline is February 14, 2024.    

Please note: If you just registered for 5 or more Spring credits (1 if you are an international student), you must wait 1 business day for the waiver database to be updated in order to access the waiver.

Students Taking 5+ Credits

Portland State University requires any student taking 5 or more credits per term to maintain comprehensive medical insurance coverage.  Students must do one waiver per academic year.  If a student has their own health insurance plan, including the Oregon Health Plan (OHP), they can submit an application to waive the PSU Student Health Insurance Plan.  Waiver applications must be submitted by the term’s waiver application deadline.  If a student’s waiver application is approved, the Student Health Insurance premium will be removed from their PSU account within 2-3 business days of approval.

Students are automatically charged $1256 until they waive out by the deadline.  Only one waiver is needed per academic year. A new academic year begins each Fall.

Students taking 1-4 credits

The PSU health insurance requirement does not apply to students taking 1-4 credits. No further action is required.
If you drop below 5 credits within the first two weeks of the term, the insurance charge will automatically be reversed from your student account within 48 hours of the drop/waiver deadline.

Students taking Restricted Differential credits

Some credits, such as those earned during study abroad, the School of Public Health with OHSU, and some continuing education credits are considered Restricted Differential Tuition credits, meaning they do not count toward the 5 credit hours triggering the Student Health Insurance Plan requirement.

Waiver Criteria

Insurance Waiver Criteria

In order to waive the PSU Student Health Insurance Plan, students must have a private health insurance plan with the following benefits: 

  • An annual individual deductible of $2,500 or less
  • At least 70% in-patient hospitalization coverage
  • Plan must be effective on or prior to the term start date. If the plan's effective coverage date is after the term start date, a waiver cannot be approved for that term. 

OHP Students

Students covered by the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) meet the University's requirements to waive the Student Health Insurance Plan.

Unsure if your plan meets the criteria?

If you are not sure if your private insurance plan meets PSU's waiver criteria, contact the Student Insurance Team by  emailing insurancehelp@pdx.edu.