For Those Who Don't Have Insurance Or Don't Know

First, ask your family. Families can have their children on their health insurance until they turn 26 years old. If your family tells you that you don’t have health insurance through them, then it’s almost certain that you don’t have health insurance. Why? Because at that point, obtaining health insurance would occur only through the actions of yourself.

If you don’t have health insurance, but you are interested in obtaining or navigating health insurance options, there are resources to help you do so.

1. The Managed Care / Student Insurance Office, located on the second floor of U of M’s University Health Services (UHS), can help you through all parts of this process.
2. The Managed Care / Student Insurance Office can help you look into acquiring health care through the federal Marketplace (also known as the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare) or the state (e.g. Medicaid).

*  Open enrollment for health care through the Affordable Care Act generally happens on a yearly basis, but there are exceptions. Find out if you qualify for this type of health insurance on their website.   *  You can enroll for insurance through Medicaid at any point during the year. Learn how to apply for enrollment on their website.

If you don’t have health insurance, and don’t want to set it up, there are several great options for you in the community. These agencies offer affordable sliding fee scales, which means that the amount you pay for each appointment varies depending on your income - the less income you make, the less you owe for an appointment, and vice versa. For a current list of these agencies, please contact CAPS.

After you have looked into some of these options, you will want to contact providers in your order of preference to check for availability. Here’s an example prompt to start the conversation.

Hello, ____. My name is ____ and I’m interested in seeking therapy. After doing some research, it seems like you might be a good fit for me. I don’t have health insurance, but I heard that you have a sliding fee scale. Could you tell me more about that?

Providers may not be available to take your call, so you might be asked to leave a message. The same prompt can be used for leaving a message - just make sure you leave your contact information.