Insurance and Fees

Insurance

Johns Hopkins University requires that all students have comprehensive health insurance. Students are automatically enrolled in the student health benefits plan at the beginning of each academic year. However, students may waive enrollment in the school plan if covered by a plan that is comparable to that offered by the University. International Students with an F1/J1 visa status are required to purchase the student health benefits plan and are not eligible to waive out of coverage.

To waive the school-sponsored health insurance plan, please log into your SIS account and click the link for the waiver form.

For questions regarding the student health benefits plan, contact the Student Health Benefits Team in the Office of the Registrar at 410-516-8080.

Upload Private Insurance Card

  1. Log in to the Student Health WebPortal
  2. Click on the Document Upload tab
  3. Select type of document (insurance card), browse to choose the file, and then hit “save”.
  4. You will then see the message : “Upload Successful! Your document is now uploaded.”

Fees

The Student Health and Wellness Center does not charge students for office visits. However, fees are assessed for immunizations, some procedures, prescriptions, and supplies. For more information, review our formulary (PDF).

Office Visits

There is no charge for office visits. Visiting students who do not pay tuition to the university may utilize the services of the Student Health & Wellness Center on a fee-for-service basis. The fee-for-service is $50 for an initial visit and $30 for a follow-up visit.

Medications

For your convenience, we carry a limited number of pre-packaged, more commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals. Review our formulary for a complete list of medications and pricing (prices subject to change).

You may choose to purchase your prescription at the SHWC if your prescription is prescribed by a SHWC care provider and the prescription is part of our formulary. If your health insurance has a pharmacy plan with a co-pay for prescription drugs, you should purchase them from a local pharmacy.

New Medication Vending Machine

The SHWC is now offering a “wellness-to-go” vending machine featuring a curated selection of over-the-counter products recommended by SHWC healthcare professionals and available for prices well below what you’d pay at a retail pharmacy. Learn more and view a list of available products.

Medical Supplies

We currently carry some medical supplies, such as air casts and hand splints, but these items must be prescribed by a SHWC care provider.

Since we do not bill private insurance companies, students with private insurance (including post-doctoral students enrolled in EHP) must pay for immunizations, services and/or medications out-of-pocket and then request a receipt for possible reimbursement.

If you belong to an HMO, PPO, or other managed care health plan, please be sure to let your Student Health and Wellness Center provider know this information prior to the ordering of or referral for services such as lab tests, x-rays, or specialty consultations.

Payment

The SHWC accepts several forms of payment:

  • Cash
  • Check
  • J-Card
  • Credit card
  • Bursar billing (Not available to Peabody students or Post-docs)

Note: To protect your privacy, charges on credit card and student account statements are noted as: “Student Health & Wellness Center charge.”

Other Fees

Students are responsible for charges incurred by providers of care outside of the SHWC for services such as hospital emergency room visits, specialists’ fees, laboratory/diagnostic tests, and x-rays.

Often these charges are covered by your health insurance. If you have school insurance and are in need of any of these services, please contact us first as a referral from us may reduce the amount you are required to pay. If you have an HMO or any type of managed care plan that requires you use a specified facility for laboratory work or x-rays, please make your provider aware so they can direct you to the proper facility to utilize the maximum benefits of your health insurance plan and spare you and your parents any additional expenses.

Sorting Out Medical Bills After a Trip to the Hospital

Please follow this link to read what the Maryland Attorney General recommends regarding this topic.

Please also note that the Federal No Surprises Act is scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2022. This seeks to protect consumers from surprise medical bills arising out of certain out-of-network emergency care.

Copies of Medical Records

Maryland law (Health General Sec. 4-304) allows physicians to charge patients (or the patient’s “personal representative”) a fee for copying medical records. The charges may be adjusted annually for inflation. The updated maximum rates as of February 2021 are:

  • A fee for copying not to exceed .76 cents for each page of the medical record

A provider may not refuse to provide the records because of unpaid fees for medical services.

Information obtained: Maryland Board of Physicians Website, December 5, 2011