You’ve seen it on your Access screen’s home page: a warning to waive or to purchase your health insurance. If you didn’t do either of these by Monday, Jan. 25, you have the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP).

According to a press release from Jan. 26, enrolled students are required to maintain insurance coverage. According to a 2004 survey that included eight other Texas universities, 26.5 percent of students did not have health insurance.

Established on November 2, 2009, this mandatory health insurance policy requires all domestic students, enrolled in nine or more credit hours, and all international students, regardless of the number of credit hours, to provide proof of insurance or purchase a plan provided by the school.

Many other universities have implemented this kind of requirement. It ensures that in the event that an SMU student requires services outside of the Health Center, his needs will be met.

If you missed the deadline, you have been automatically enrolled into SHIP: your premium charge of $669 has been applied to your Access account for the spring and summer terms. Approximately 1,750 students had not documented their coverage as of Jan. 22 according to the press release.

If you missed the deadline and you have health insurance, you need to do the following: bring, fax or e-mail your insurance coverage documentation to the Memorial Health Center—a staff member will credit the insurance charge on your Access account. You can only do this until Thursday, Feb. 18.

For more information, visit smu.edu/healthinsurance.