SUBJECT:

Student Health and Well-being Services – Important Information You Need

Dear Student,

Student Health and Well-being (Counseling and Psychological Services, Health Promotion Services and Student Health Services) has several initiatives, programs and services we want to call to your attention.

Medical Home
At Student Health Services (SHS) we provide you with a real Medical Home, complete with personalized care from your own primary care provider and group team. You will be able to schedule visits by calling your primary care group directly, and will have access to prompt care by a skilled provider. For more information visit https://wellness.ucsd.edu/studenthealth.

UC SHIP
Enrollment in the UC Student Health Insurance Plan (UC SHIP) is automatic for all registered students as part of the registration process. Students who are already covered by other insurance may be eligible to apply for a Health Fee Waiver. Those students who do not submit a waiver by the waiver deadline are automatically enrolled in UC SHIP.

The cost for the UC SHIP is $671 per quarter for undergraduate students or $1,182 for graduate students. This incredible plan provides generous benefits to covered students such as access to Student Health Services (SHS) with zero out-of-pocket for most services, including primary care visits, routine immunizations and lab tests. For services outside of SHS but within the UC Health System’s network of specialists and facilities, there is no annual deductible and the plan offers 90-100% coverage after low copays. For more information about plan benefits, fees, referral requirements, waiver procedure and waiver deadlines, please visit: https://wellness.ucsd.edu/studenthealth/insurance/uc-ship

UC SHIP Health Waiver
A new Health Fee Waiver must be submitted each new academic year. So even if you waived SHIP last year and your insurance has not changed, you still need to do a Health Fee Waiver again for 2016-2017. The waiver criteria has changed for 2016-2017. The deadline to waive UC SHIP without a late fee is September 16, 2016, and the late waiver deadline ends on September 23, 2016 ($50 late fee applies). WAIVERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AFTER September 23, 2016.

Planning on waiving SHIP?
Consider enrolling in our Reduced Access Fee for Tritons (RAFT). It is the most cost effective way for students who waive UC SHIP to take advantage of convenient on campus medical care at SHS during the academic year (fall, winter and spring only). For $55 per quarter, RAFT provides prepaid access to scheduled visits, in-house labs and x-ray services at SHS. All registered students have access to SHS regardless of whether they have UC SHIP or not, but RAFT gives students who waive UC SHIP the peace of mind that they can be seen at SHS for many of their primary care needs right on campus without the worry of high costs. Students who waive UC SHIP but do not purchase RAFT will be required to pay the full cost of all services at SHS. Please visit https://wellness.ucsd.edu/studenthealth/insurance/raft for more information.

Alcohol Risk Reduction
We have a number of resources at UC San Diego to support students who choose not to drink, to help those who drink avoid high-risk drinking, and to assist those with alcohol use problems. Please visit http://go.ucsd.edu/2d0x4rU for more information.

For our first year students, evidence shows that the first few weeks of the Fall Quarter are critical to your academic success. Don't let alcohol interfere with your successful transition to campus life and ultimate academic success, or limit your options for the future. This is an exciting time for you, and we want you to enjoy and remember every minute of it. Please remember all new, incoming freshmen and transfer students are required to complete the E-CHUG assessment before coming to campus.

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
CAPS is an integral member of Student Health and Well-Being. CAPS is committed to promoting student mental health and well-being that is conducive to growth, flourishing, academic achievement and lifelong learning. CAPS provides confidential psychological counseling services, group counseling, workshops and forums for students free of charge. CAPS also provides urgent and emergency counseling services for students in crisis. In addition, the CAPS staff and our Wellness Peer Educators provide many outreach presentations to students on mental health and well-being topics such as stress management, healthy lifestyles and assisting students in crisis. We also host campus-wide events such as National Depression Screening Day. For more information about CAPS, please visit our website at http://caps.ucsd.edu or call them at (858) 534-3755.

The Zone
Head to The Zone, UC San Diego's lounge for student well-being, located in Price Center Plaza (next to Jamba Juice), to enjoy FREE weekly wellness programs such as therapy dog de-stress events, DIY craft workshops, chair massages, fitness classes, healthy cooking demos and more! You can also discover healthy lifestyle tips, connect with campus-wide wellness resources, meet new friends, take a nap on one of our bean bags, or grab FREE tea, water and earplugs. Learn all about what The Zone has to offer at http://zone.ucsd.edu.

UCSD is a Smoke- and Tobacco-free Campus
UC San Diego, along with all the other UC campuses, is smoke- and tobacco-free. This means smoking and the use of smokeless tobacco products, unregulated nicotine products and electronic smoking devices (which include e-cigarettes) are strictly prohibited on all University controlled properties.

This will contribute to a healthy environment for all staff, students, faculty and visitors. Please visit http://smokefree.ucsd.edu for complete information about this System-wide policy.

If you are a student and a smoker who would like to quit, Student Health Services can help. You can make an appointment with a Health Educator at Student Health Services by calling (858) 822-5926. Smoking cessation appointments at SHS are free, and cessation aids are available.

Thank you for choosing UC San Diego. We look forward to helping you achieve your academic and personal goals by keeping you well.

All the best this academic year,

Karen J. Calfas, Ph.D. Executive Director Student Health and Well-Being