Insurance Guide for Students

This page is a guide to help students find out if their current insurance will be easy to use in Marquette, and how to obtain additional coverage if necessary. It is designed to help if: 

  • you have no insurance and would like to explore options
  • you have been covered through a parent's insurance policy, but want to ensure you are still covered in Marquette
  • you want to find out if your insurance will cover mental health services in Marquette
  • you want to check if your prescription drugs will be covered and find out where you can pick them up
  • you want to find out if the NMU Health Center will bill your insurance
  • you are an international student or a varsity athlete and want to find out if you need additional insurance
  • you want to find out if your insurance covers tuition if illness or injury requires you to withdraw from school

Medical Insurance is Highly Recommended

Medical insurance is highly recommended for all students and can be obtained through:

NMU does not provide student health insurance. Most students can obtain unsubsidized health insurance at any time through an agent, but it can be expensive. Students can also obtain less expensive (subsidized) insurance through broker/agents or the healthcare.gov marketplace, typically during the annual enrollment periods in specific weeks of November and December. However, there are also special enrollment periods (SEP), so that enrollment may still be an option outside of the annual enrollment period. For instance, change in residence can qualify you for SEP. More information is available at Get Marketplace Health Coverage.

Because not all subsidized insurance is accepted in Marquette, NMU worked with two local brokers who can guide you through the process to obtain subsidized insurance that works well in the Upper Peninsula. These subsidized options can likely be purchased for monthly premiums of between $5 and $50 per month, depending on your income. Here are contact links for these brokers and the healthcare.gov site: 

The healthcare.gov website has a good checklist to help you prepare to apply for insurance.  To apply for subsidized insurance, you will first collect some basic information, and then call a broker, or fill out an online application from the broker agency. They will typically need your address, social security number, information from your prior year tax return, and a recent paystub to estimate your current annual income. You will also need to know if anyone claims you on their taxes as a dependent. Even if you are claimed as a dependent, you still may be able to secure low cost insurance for yourself or for your whole family. 

Many students are covered at home through a parent's insurance policy, but this does not guarantee coverage while away at college. There are some steps you can take to confirm your physical and mental health insurance coverage.

Even if you think you are already covered by an insurance plan, it is still a good idea to confirm that the coverage will be in place during college:

  • Call your insurance company to ask if you/your student must take any steps to continue coverage. The correct number to call is usually on your insurance card.
  • If you are from a state other than Michigan, ask if your plan is effective in Michigan.
  • If you are in an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) or a PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) you will need to find out which providers in Marquette participate in your plan. Some insurance companies use the term “provider," and others call them “participating providers” or “in network providers.” It is always a good idea to find out which care providers your HMO or PPO will accept before someone is ill or injured.
  • Some insurance companies offer specific add-on plans for students, called an "away from home" plan. Find out if your insurance plan requires you to sign up for this service in order to have full coverage. 
  • Sometimes students confirm that the doctor is an in-network provider, but neglect to find out if laboratory work is also covered. It is important to remember that many lab tests for area providers, including the NMU Health Center, are provided through UP Health Systems, also called DLP Marquette General Hospital. Ask your insurance company whether this hospital is an in-network provider. 

We do participate with BCBSM, please note that Blue Care Network requires the student to list one of our physicians as their Primary Care (PCP) while they receive care at the health center. PLEASE CALL THE NUMBER ON THE BACK OF THE INSURANCE CARD to adjust the PCP. Also, the PCP can be switched back to the home provider when a student is not at NMU.

For Michigan residents using a government health insurance program like Medicaid or MIChild, the coverage is likely the same at NMU as at home, as long as you use a participating (in-network) provider. It is helpful to identify in-network providers before arriving in Marquette. The NMU Heath Center is in-network for MIChild/Michigan Medicaid. To verify coverage, call or email your MIChild/Medicaid contact or case worker. 

Students who are not Michigan residents and who use a government health insurance program must pay special attention to coverage. State programs can often only be used outside the home state for emergency care. Again, call the number on your insurance card to find out if you / your child will be covered in a different state.

Students may also want to check for coverage for dental procedures, particularly if you expect to have dental visits during the time NMU is in session.

Do not forget about health savings accounts. The NMU Health Center and many local providers of both physical and mental health services accept flexible spending or health savings cards. So if your family uses this kind of pre-tax medical expense account, students should bring the cards to Marquette. 

Insurance plan coverages vary for mental health services. The psychologists and counselors at the NMU Counseling Center provide individual, group, and emotional crisis appointments. These services are free to enrolled students, but are not intended for long-term care; most students meet with their counselor for one to six sessions. To verify the mental health services covered by your insurance carrier, call your provider. 

Finally, it is important to note that when students withdraw from school due to illness or injury, health insurance does not cover tuition, room, or board. NMU has contracted with an external insurance agency that offers insurance to cover these expenses.  

Like health visits, prescription drugs are covered through different health insurance plans, so call your health insurance provider to find out if any specific pharmacies are connected to your plan.

Marquette has a wide variety of local and national pharmacy options. If you want to use the on-campus NMU pharmacy, call the NMU pharmacy at (906) 227-1167 to verify that they can accept your prescription drug plan as well as obtain the prescription drugs you know you need. If you have transportation off-campus and are receiving prescription drugs through a national pharmacy, the prescription can easily be changed to the Marquette branch of the national chain pharmacy by contacting your local pharmacist. 

Prescriptions ordered by a Marquette health provider, including the doctors at the NMU Health Center, can be picked up at the NMU Pharmacy or another local pharmacy – it is the always the patient’s choice where to send the prescription, so it is necessary to know which pharmacy will accept your insurance plan.

Finally, the NMU Health Center and many local pharmacists accept flexible spending or health savings cards. If your family uses this kind of pre-tax medical expense account, students should bring the cards to Marquette. 

The NMU Health Center will treat you whether you have insurance coverage or not; being treated is not an indication of whether you have insurance coverage. If you have specific questions about your coverage, call the customer service phone number on the back of your insurance card, or review the information on the rest of this page.

When students are treated at the NMU Health Center, full payment is not required before receiving services. Students will be asked for insurance card information if it is not already on file. If any deductible or co-insurance is due, it can be applied to the student's ebill account. Even though the NMU Health Center does not participate with all insurance plans, we will submit claims to all insurance plans for which we have proper claim information on file. After the insurance company has paid the claim amount, any remaining balance will also be applied to the student's ebill account. 

However, pharmacy charges cannot be added to the student's ebill; if you utilize the NMU pharmacy, that copay will be due at the time of service. 

To ensure we have complete and correct information, patients should have their current insurance card(s) with them when arriving at the Health Center for care. If you are covered under more than one health insurance plan, please bring all plan cards with you. We may also need the address, phone number and date of birth of the policy subscriber.  The insurance card(s) can be scanned at the time of appointment. They can also be sent in at any time to be kept on file. Send a copy of the front and back of the card with the cardholder name and date of birth to healthcenter@nmu.edu. Or use the secure fax line at 906-227-2332.

International students are covered by health insurance that they are required to purchase when attending NMU. The terms of the coverage are in the insurance packet and on the international programs website.

Varsity student athletes need to provide their own insurance. Club sport athletes also need to provide their own insurance. NMU only provides coverage for injuries that occur while NCAA Division I and II athletes are participating in practice, conditioning, or games during NCAA sport seasons. Illnesses and injuries outside the season are NOT covered by varsity student athlete insurance. Varsity athletes provide their own insurance coverage for illness at any time and any injury that occurs outside of the sport season.