Section 1. Health Insurance
All employees are required to participate in the MIT Student Health Insurance Plan (MIT SHIP) or to otherwise be covered by health insurance that meets Massachusetts state requirements. MIT shall provide individual coverage under MIT SHIP, at no premium cost, to employees. MIT shall maintain or improve all benefits covered by MIT SHIP as of October 1, 2022, for the duration of this Agreement. Employees with a spouse/partner who is unable to work in the United States due to immigration status or disability may apply for Doctoral Long-Term Financial Hardship Funding to assist with covering the spouse/partner’s portion of MIT SHIP premiums.
Employees may apply to the Short-Term Emergency Hardship Fund or Doctoral Long-Term Financial Hardship Funding, whichever is most applicable, for help with paying medical expenses, including prescription drug copayments, not covered by insurance under the terms of that program.
Section 2. Special Circumstances
Under some special circumstances, and consistent with current practices, the Institute may deviate from the requirement to cover individual health insurance under Section 1 of this Article.
Such circumstances shall be limited to employees appointed by certain professional degree programs (i.e., the Sloan MBA program, Sloan Master of Finance program, Sloan Master of Business Analytics program, Sloan Executive MBA program, Sloan Fellows program, Leaders for Global Operations program, Systems Design Management program, Integrated Design and Management program, and educational programs of the Center for Real Estate Development).
Section 3. Dental Coverage
Employees shall be eligible to enroll in the MIT Graduate Student Dental Plan. If an employee elects to enroll in this plan, MIT shall cover the same portion of the cost of the employee’s individual premium as that of MIT benefits-eligible staff. The enrollment period for the Graduate Student Dental Plan shall be no less than one (1) month.
Consistent with the cost share in preceding paragraph, MIT shall reimburse employees who enrolled in the Graduate Student Dental Plan for academic year 2023–2024. MIT will also make reasonable efforts to work with the third-party insurer of the Graduate Student Dental Plan to create an additional open enrollment period for the 2023–2024 academic year only. In the event an additional open enrollment period is created, the premium costs and other terms of the Graduate Student Dental Plan may be different for those employees who enroll during the additional period, per requirements of the third-party insurer.
Section 4. Vision Coverage
Within six (6) months following ratification of this Agreement, MIT shall offer a benefit plan to employees that covers the cost of eyeglasses or contact lenses. The benefits shall be comparable to those offered to MIT benefits-eligible staff. Employees shall be eligible to enroll in the plan under the same terms offered to benefits-eligible staff of the Institute. The employee will pay the full cost of any premiums associated with the plan. The enrollment period for this benefit plan shall be no less than one (1) month.