Health Insurance
Resources at a Glance:
- Link to general Enrollment form
- Link to form to add a domestic partner to your insurance
- Ask your department GEO Steward how this stuff works!
- Ask the UHS Patient Services your detailed questions about coverage dates and policies
- Official plan documents with detailed up-to-date info: https://www.umass.edu/uhs/insurance
- Other questions? Not sure who to ask? Contact your GEO reps
Your union benefit is a massive reduction in the price charged by UMass for the student plan
The reduction is called “GEO health insurance waiver”, or “GEO Insurance Cost Reduction”
Your health coverage (Student Health Benefit Plan or “SHBP”) is administered by UMass University Health Services (UHS) and the insurance company Wellfleet [new version of Consolidated Health Plans since 2019]. When healthcare providers/doctor’s offices outside of UMass ask you for your health insurance, you should tell them you have “Cigna PPO” which is the network your insurance operates on.
There’s a reason why the university covers most of the health fee for GEO eligible employees: the hard work of graduate students through GEO . Before grad employees unionized, many of us on campus did not have health insurance at all; it certainly wasn’t paid for by the University. In 1991, a year after UMass grad students voted in favor of unionization, GEO won a 79% waiver of health fees for grad employees and their families after a 10-day strike. In our negotiations for the 2004-2007 contract we lowered the cost of family health insurance and secured full 12 month coverage for graduate students. Over the last several years, GEO has increased the health fee waiver, which is now 95% of the cost of health insurance. We’ve also reduced family costs and added new forms of coverage and benefits.
Please note that the FREE dental and vision coverage you are eligible for in a GEO-protected position is not part of the SHBP. These are provided by a separate entity, the UAW/UMass Health and Welfare Trust, which was established through GEO’s bargaining with the university, and for which we continually negotiate new contributions with each new CBA. Even if you are eligible for automatic enrollment in the SHBP, you must still manually sign up for dental and vision coverage (and the wellness reimbursement, and other benefits through the HWT) every year!
GEO does not administer your health insurance! However, we have bargained for the significant cost reduction that grad employees receive, as well as over the details of what the plan covers. And GEO leadership is always happy to help answer any questions you have about insurance. If you have questions you can’t find answers to here, please email us at geo@umass.edu.
Plan costs and waivers
Fast facts:
If you work 190 hours in the fall, or earn the equivalent of 190 hours at the GEO-minimum ($32.66), you receive the 95% cost reduction for the SHBP for the whole year, and for the health fee for the fall semester.
If you work 190 hours in the spring, or earn the equivalent of 190 hours at the GEO-minimum ($32.66), you receive the cost reduction for the spring fee, and the SHBP for the whole year.
If you work 380 hours in either semester (a 20-hour assistantship in one semester = 380 hours), or earn the equivalent of 380 hours at the GEO minimum, you receive the 95% cost reduction for the fee in both semesters and for the SHBP.
Check out the charts below for a breakdown of how much money your union saves you!
| INDIVIDUAL: one semester cost with full waiver | Full price | GEO cost reduction (-95%) | Price after GEO cost reduction (-95%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Health Plan (insurance premium) | $1,920.00 | -$1,824.00 | = $96.00 |
| Individual Health Fee (charged by UMass) | $417.50 | -$396.63 | = $20.87 |
| TOTAL COST in one semester | $2,337.50 | -$2,217.63 | = $116.87 |
| INDIVIDUAL: one semester cost without health fee waiver | Full price | GEO cost reduction (-95%) | Price after GEO cost reduction (-95%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Health Plan (insurance premium) | $1,920.00 | -$1,824.00 | = $96.00 |
| Individual Health Fee (charged by UMass) | $417.50 | N/A | = $417.50 |
| TOTAL COST in one semester | $2,337.50 | -$1,824.00 | = $475.50 |
| FAMILY, one semester cost with full waiver | Full price | GEO cost reduction (-95%) | Price after GEO cost reduction (-95%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Health Plan (insurance premium) | $1,920.00 | -$1,824.00 | = $96.00 |
| Individual Health Fee (charged by UMass) | $417.50 | -$396.63 | = $20.87 |
| Family Health Plan (added once to insurance premium to include family member/s) | $3,450 | -$3,277.50 | = $172.50 |
| Family Health Fee (charged by UMass) | $1,382.00 | -$1312.90 | = $69.10 |
| TOTAL COST in one semester | $9,089.50 | -$8,635.03 | = $454.47 |
| FAMILY, one semester cost without health fee waiver | Full price | GEO cost reduction (-95%) | Price after GEO cost reduction (-95%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Health Plan (insurance premium) | $1,920.00 | -$1,824.00 | = $96.00 |
| Individual Health Fee (charged by UMass) | $417.50 | N/A | = $20.87 |
| Family Health Plan (added once to insurance premium to include family member/s) | $3,450 | -$3,277.50 | = $172.50 |
| Family Health Fee (charged by UMass) | $1,382.00 | N/A | = $1,382.00 |
| TOTAL COST in one semester | $9,089.50 | -$6,925.50 | = $2,164.00 |
How do I calculate my eligibility for GEO health insurance waivers?
| Based on earning from GEO-eligible jobs | Based on hours working in GEO-eligible jobs | Example situations | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| I am earning at least $5,762.70 from GEO-eligible jobs in this academic year (but less than $11,525.40) | I am working at least 190 hours in total in this academic year, but less than 380 hours | 10hrs a week for one semester of 19 weeks; 5hrs a week for two semesters or 19 weeks each; any other combinations that total 190 | Full waiver for one semester, half waiver for the other semester |
| I am earning at least $11,525.40 or more from GEO-eligible jobs in this academic year | I am working 380 hours or more in total in this academic year | 20hrs a week for one semester of 19 weeks; 10hrs a week for two semesters of 19 weeks each; any other combinations that total 380 or more | Full waiver in both semesters |
| I am earning less $5,762.70 from GEO-eligible jobs in this academic year | I am working less than 190 hours in total in this academic year | less than 10hrs a week in one semester and no job in the other; no GEO-eligible job but only “hourly” jobs; semester contract is shorter than 19 weeks | Not eligible for any health insurance waiver |