Spring 2022 International GA Insurance Waiver Process Guidelines
Purpose: Outline the steps necessary to prevent International Graduate Assistants (GA) from being charged the international System Student Health Insurance Plan (SSHIP) fees while enrolled in the Graduate Student Employee Health Plan during the spring term. Timely adherence to the steps below will result in the GA being included in the waiver report and the SSHIP fees being removed from the GA’s student billing account.
These guidelines apply to Graduate Assistant employees meeting ALL of the following conditions:
- International graduate student currently on F-1 or J-1 status;
- Enrolled in spring TAMU-CS, TAMUG, and/or HSC coursework;
- An active employee in Workday as of January 31, in a GA benefit eligible position in system part 02, 06, 07, 10, 12, 23, and 28; and
- Enrolled (not as a covered dependent) in the A&M Care Plan, J Plan, or the Graduate Student Employee Health Plan as of January 31, with a reasonable expectation they will be an active benefit-eligible employee through the end of the spring. Ex. GA continuing employment as a GANT, GAR, GAL, GAT in spring 2022. Any International GAs covered as a dependent will not be included in the spring 2022 waiver report.
THE WAIVER REPORT FOR SPRING 2022 WILL RUN AT 8 A.M. ON MONDAYS, UNTIL FEBRUARY 14, 2022.
HR Liaison responsibilities that must be completed by January 31, 2022:
- Confirm the GA is employed in a benefit-eligible GANT, GAR, GAL, GAT position.
- Confirm the GA is not on Leave Without Pay (LWOP)/Leave of Absence (LOA) for the spring semester. Those returning from leave must be active in Workday as of January 31. See TAMUS Benefits for Graduate Student Employees – Staff Instructions.
- Run the “Workers with other ID’s” report in Workday to identify active GAs with expired or missing Alien Work Authorization Expiration Date other ID’s.
- Confirm the “Alien Work Authorization Expiration Date other ID” is entered in Workday and it is not expired. If updates are needed, the HR Liaison must contact the GA to complete an I-9 re-verification. This data feeds from the I-9 system to Workday.
Graduate Assistant responsibilities that must be completed by January 31, 2022:
- In Workday, confirm enrollment in the Graduate Student Employee Health Plan on or before January 31.
- In Workday, confirm all visa information is entered accurately. The visa status should not be blank.
- Any changes to visa status or citizenship will result in the need to adjust foreign national payroll tax status in the GLACIER nonresident alien tax compliance system. GAs will receive a pending to do prompt in Workday for this task. GAs should contact their HR Liaison or the Tax Compliance and Reporting Office with any questions.
- Confirm the “Alien Work Authorization Expiration Date other ID” is entered in Workday and is not expired. If updates are needed, the GA must contact the HR Liaison to complete an I-9 re-verification.
- In Workday, verify there are no pending to do items.
If a graduate student loses their Grad Plan coverage for any reason in the middle of the semester OR if they lose their Grad Plan at the end of a semester AND will not be enrolled in classes in the next semester (the most common example is Spring Graduate Student Employees neither working nor studying for the Summer) they should enroll in SSHIP using a Qualifying Event enrollment. More information on how to enroll can be found on the Student Health Plan Website.
Failure to complete these actions by January 31, 2022 will result in the GA being charged the International SSHIP while on the Grad Student Health Plan. In these instances, reimbursement for the SSHIP is expected in November 2022.