Health Insurance Information

Every participant is required to have health insurance on the first day of the appointment and throughout the duration of the program. Participants may not be present at NASA facilities if their insurance coverage lapses.

Individual or family insurance coverage may be purchased through ORISE, or participants may obtain another insurance plan from the company of their choice. More information on the insurance coverage offered by ORISE may be found at the ORAU Health Insurance site. If the participant is not enrolled in the insurance plan offered through ORISE, we must receive documentation that the participant is enrolled on the day the appointment begins.

The NASA facility may offer a health insurance stipend supplement to help defray the cost of insurance. This supplement may be applied automatically to the ORAU’s plan or, if NASA elects, may be used by the participant to offset the cost of another plan. Participants who enroll in the ORAU/ORISE health insurance plan will have the full cost of the monthly premium deducted from their stipend payment. These deductions occur one month in advance (e.g., the premium for February coverage will be deducted in January). For this reason, participants who begin their appointment between the 1st and 15th of a month can expect to have two insurance premiums deducted from their first stipend payment (one to cover the current month and one to cover the following month).

Vision and dental insurance plans are not available through ORISE. Health insurance stipend supplements provided by NASA may not be applied to the cost of such plans obtained elsewhere.