Student Medical Insurance Plan Benefits
Duke’s Student Medical Insurance Plan (SMIP) is a robust, high quality plan that provides excellent and affordable benefits for our students. This Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliant plan is designed specifically for students to help support their health and well-being needs while at Duke.
For students looking to compare the Duke SMIP to other plans, our plan is designated as a Platinum level plan under the ACA rating system.
Coverage Period for 2025 - 2026
| Annual Plan | August 1, 2025 - July 31, 2026 |
| For Spring incoming students | January 1, 2026 - July 31, 2026 |
Coverage Period for 2026 - 2027
| Annual Plan | August 1, 2026 - July 31, 2027 |
| For Spring incoming students | January 1, 2027 - July 31, 2027 |
Insurance Carrier
We are very excited to share that we will be partnering with Aetna to serve as our new Student Medical Insurance Plan carrier. This change will be effective on August 1, 2026 with the start of the 2026-2027 plan year. Aetna will replace our current insurance carrier, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina.
Aetna brings a wealth of student insurance experience to this partnership and has more than 40 years of experience serving colleges and universities. They have a robust team of more than 200 professionals dedicated to their student insurance work, which results in resources, tools, and service that is more specific to university students and their distinct needs in an insurance plan. They have been a great partner as our student dental insurance carrier for several years and we are looking forward to bringing the quality of support they have provided for our dental coverage to the medical plan.
Plan Benefits
There are a number of documents and resources to help you understand all the benefits that come with your Duke student medical or dental plan.
The benefits listed below are for key services during the 2026-2027 plan year (August 1 - July 31 each year). For full details on in-network and out-of-network coverage, including exclusions, please review the plan documents on the Gallagher student insurance portal, which will be added in early June.
1 Select Care out-of-pocket limits also accrue towards the In-network out-of-pocket limits.
*All coverage and rates are subject to state regulatory approval and may change. Aetna Student Health is currently awaiting approval from the state insurance department for the 2026–2027 academic year, and details will be finalized upon approval.