Health Insurance Overview
- On this page:
Stanford's Health Care Resources
While at Stanford, your health care resources include the following:
- Access to Vaden Health Center – All registered students can access Vaden Health Center services during their academic careers at Stanford. As a member of the Stanford campus community, most services are free of charge to you and all services are geared to your well-being. Free Vaden Health Center services offered to registered students include primary care, radiology (excluding x-rays for TB), lab and nutrition. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) provides free consultation and brief therapy.
- Insurance – You will need health insurance when accessing health care outside of Vaden. Examples of services that require health insurance are referrals to specialists, Emergency or Urgent care and services while away from campus (such as traveling within the US or internationally).
General Introduction to the Insurance Requirement at Stanford University
At Vaden Health Center, we specialize in you. Our students have diverse, individual needs, but the student community has a great deal in common, too. One need we all share is health insurance coverage. Stanford requires that all students have health insurance coverage.
To help you meet this requirement, Stanford University offers Cardinal Care, a comprehensive health insurance plan covering a wide range of services. Stanford automatically enrolls you in Cardinal Care at the start of each academic quarter, unless you waive coverage by the quarter’s deadline and provide proof of other health insurance coverage.
While most services at Vaden Health Center are available to students without charge, all registered students are required to have health insurance. Students must either:
- Enroll in Cardinal Care, the Stanford University-sponsored insurance plan paid with the University bill, or
- "Waive out" by documenting coverage (including professional services, such as specialists and hospitalization) from another health insurance carrier
Special Note to International Students
American Health Care
The American health care system can be confusing to students from other countries because there is no national health system in the United States. Health insurance can be expensive, but costs far less than buying services directly from a health care provider. Many organizations offer health insurance to foreign students.
High Quality Health Care Coverage
Please carefully read the information about Cardinal Care. Together Vaden Health Center and Cardinal Care offer high quality care and coverage at a reasonable price.
For J-1 and J-2 students or dependents
For those students and dependents wishing to purchase individual, state
or county health plans, Stanford University has self-insurance for
repatriation up to $7,500 and medical evacuation up to $10,000. To
view the details of the Stanford University self-insurance plan,
please see Foreign
Students (PDF
format).
In contrast, Cardinal Care (the Stanford University student health insurance plan) provides Emergency Travel Assistance Services, administered by Assist America. Unlimited medical evacuation and repatriation coverage are included among its benefits.