Students pay for medical care at the Student Health Service through a combination of pre-paid fees plus fee-for-service payments for selected items. In order to access care at the Student Health Service, students must pay the Clinical Fee or satisfy the Fee through enrollment in PSIP (the Penn Student Insurance Plan). Payment of the Clinical Fee (or satisfaction of the Fee through PSIP) is mandatory for all full-time students. The Clinical Fee is optional for part-time and dissertation status students. 

The University also requires all full-time students to maintain adequate health insurance that meets certain criteria; students who do not have acceptable private insurance may enroll in PSIP. However, enrollment in PSIP is not necessary for students to obtain medical care at the Student Health Service; students who elect private insurance are eligible to receive care at the Student Health Service through payment of the Clinical Fee.

Many of the services available at the Student Health Service are fully covered by the Clinical Fee or PSIP, without additional charges to or co-pays from students. These services include primary care visits, nursing care visits, allergy desensitization, travel consultations and nutrition consultations. 

The Health Service does charge for other services and procedures, most notably diagnostic lab tests performed on-site, specialty care, immunizations, prescription services and various supplies. For these billable services, the Student Health Service either bills insurance carriers directly or assesses students the cost of care; both the service provided and the insurance plan determine who is billed. Most of these procedures are covered in full by the PSIP insurance plans; the Student Health Service bills PSIP directly for these services. These services may or may not be included as a benefit by insurance plans other than PSIP; the Health Service usually bills students and provides receipts that students may submit to insurance carriers for reimbursement. Students with non-PSIP insurance have the option of paying charges at the time of their visit; alternatively, they can have charges billed to their student account.

Students are responsible for payment of any services obtained outside of the Student Health Service, including diagnostic tests, consultations, outpatient office visits, emergency room treatment and hospitalization. We encourage students with private insurance to review their policies to make sure that they have an acceptable level of coverage for those services. Students are responsible for asking the Student Health Service to contact their provider or carrier if their insurance plans require prior authorization for diagnostic tests or services.