Healthcare

Hospital Emergency Rooms are for treating life-threatening medical situations. If you are unable to get there on your own, call 911 and an ambulance will be dispatched to transport you to the nearest Emergency Room. Medical insurance may cover a portion of the cost of an ambulance, but you should anticipate a co-pay.

Urgent Care facilities are for non-life-threatening situations but provide same-day care. Doctors at Urgent Care facilities treat minor cuts, skin rashes, sprains, colds, coughs, fevers, abdominal pain, broken bones, prescriptions, and more. Some Urgent Care facilities may be open after business hours in the evenings or on the weekends when your doctor's office is closed.

A list of Pasadena-area Urgent Care facilities can be found under "Medical Care" on the Emergency webpage.

Prescriptions. If you need a prescription for a medicine or drug, it has to be prescribed by a doctor. However, many medicines or drugs are sold over the counter in United States, which means that you can buy them directly off the shelf, in grocery stores, pharmacies, or drug stores.

• Brown and Welin Pharmacy
• CVS
• Ralphs
• Rite Aid
• Von's
• Walgreens

Medical Equipment. You can borrow medical equipment, such as crutches, wheelchairs, or other orthopedic devices from the Convalescent Aid Society.

The United States does not have a national health insurance system. In order to choose which your health insurance plan, you should evaluate the cost of the monthly premium, deductibles, co-pays, and coinsurance. You will need to select separate Dental and Vision plans.

Caltech offers several health insurance plans:

• HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) is a health insurance plan that limits coverage to doctors within a network and requires referrals from a primary care physician to see a specialist. Caltech HMO plans are Anthem and Kaiser Permanente.
• High Deductible PPO (High Deductible Preferred Provider Organization) is a health insurance plan that has a high deductible which must be paid before the plan starts to pay its share. It includes a network of medical provides. You are able to see doctors out of the network but you will pay out of pocket. This type of plan does not require a referral to seek care from a specialist. Caltech offers a High Deductible Health Plan through Anthem.
  J-1 Exchange Visitors: the Caltech High Deductible PPO does not meet the J-1 medical insurance requirement. See: Insurance for J-1 Exchange Visitors and J-2 Dependents

The Summary of Caltech Benefits reflects the current cost of health insurance for scholars and staff. Review Caltech Student Benefits for information about student insurance options.

Terms to Know

• Coinsurance. The percentage of your costs that you will be responsible for paying when you seek medical services.
• Copay. The flat dollar amount of your costs that you'll be responsible for paying when you seek services.
• Deductible. The money you must pay out of pocket each year before your plan starts sharing costs.
• Explanation of Benefits. The document that lets you know whether or not the services you received are covered by the insurance company; the amount the plan pays for covered services; if you have met your deductible; and how much you owe your healthcare provider.
• In-Network. The providers, pharmacies, and facilities that offer special negotiated rates.
• Out-of-Pocket Maximum. The most you're required to pay out of pocket each year (deductible, copay, and coinsurance) for covered plan expenses before the plan covers expenses at 100%.
• Second Opinion. When you want another doctor's opinion or recommendation.
• Usual & Customary. The amount insurance pays for a medical service based on what providers in the geographic area usually charge for the same or similar medical service.

When will Caltech/JPL health insurance begin?
If you are eligible to participate in the Caltech/JPL health insurance plans as a non-student, and if you enroll in a Caltech/JPL health insurance plan, your health insurance coverage will begin on the first day of the month coincident with, or immediately following your date of hire.

• If you start working on February 1, your Caltech/JPL coverage begins February 1.
• If you start working on February 15, your Caltech/JPL coverage begins March 1.

Caltech Student Health Insurance Plan coverage will begin upon registration. For graduate students arriving in the Fall, the Caltech Student Health Insurance Plan coverage starts on September 1.

We recommend short-term insurance for ensure coverage from the time of departure from your home country until enrolled in the Caltech/JPL insurance plan (if eligible). Caltech makes the same plans available to scholars who are not eligible for the Institute subsidy.

Coverage for Dependent Family Members
if eligible, you can also enroll your dependent family members in your Caltech/JPL insurance plan. Review the premiums for dependents.

Changing Health Insurance Plans and Doctors
Benefits, including health insurance, can be changed once a year during Open Enrollment (October/November) or if you have a life event such as marriage or loss of coverage.

If you are part of an HMO, you can change your primary care doctor at any time, provided the new doctor belongs to the same medical group and it is before the 30th of the month. If you are enrolled in a High Deductible PPO, you can change and see as many doctors and specialists as you want. However, be aware that some doctors may be out-of-network and you may incur higher costs.

Mental health and well-being services are offered for free at Caltech and JPL.
Caltech. While the Caltech Wellness Services helps the students, the Caltech Staff and Faculty Consultation Center serves all the other part of the community, including the spouses and family. The WorkLife Program provides general wellness programming and advice.
JPL. Mylifematters and Learntolive are the two online resources. To access these, use JPL VPN to reach https://hr.jpl.nasa.gov/benefits-wellness/2025-benefit-overview.