Dental Plan

Optional dental insurance

Student Health Benefits offers an optional dental insurance plan to supplement students' health insurance coverage.

All students are eligible to enroll in the Dental Plan, whether you are covered by Cornell's Student Health Plan (SHP) or a private health insurance plan. Plan enrollees may also choose to enroll dependents (spouses, domestic partners, and children).

NOTE: Student Health Plan Plus (SHP+) members have dental and vision coverage included as a benefit of their plan.

Plan highlights

Cornell's student Dental Plan is offered through Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. of New York. The plan ...

  • is tailored to fit the needs of Cornell students (and their dependents) studying in Ithaca, New York City, or anywhere in the United States or abroad
  • provides preventive and basic coverage at a reasonable price anywhere in the United States
  • includes access to a nationwide Participating Provider Organization (PPO) of approximately 7,000 New York dental provider access points, with more than 80,000 access points nationwide
  • provides support finding dental care when traveling outside the United States
  • offers prescription discounts 

2020-2021 Plan Information

Visit the Ameritas website for Cornell students for complete plan details.

Coverage dates

  • Annual: August 1, 2020 – July 31, 2021
  • Spring semester only: January 1, 2021 – July 31, 2021 (available only to new spring admits)

Rates

  • 2020-2021 Plan Term (August 1, 2020  – July 31, 2021):
    Student: $300
    Spouse / domestic partner: Additional $318
    One or more children: Additional $482
     
  • Spring 2021 Plan Term (January 1, 2021 – July 31, 2021):
    (Available only to new spring admits)
    Student: $200
    Spouse / domestic partner: Additional $212
    One or more children: Additional $323

NOTE: Premiums are paid directly to Ameritas, and are no longer Bursar-billable.

Eligibility

  • Annual plan term:
    • Registered Cornell students
    • Dependents (spouse, domestic partner, children) of students enrolled in the Dental Plan
       
  • Spring semester only:
    • Students entering Cornell for the first time in the spring (and their dependents)
    • Enrolled students (and their dependents) returning to Cornell in the spring after a fall semester off campus (restrictions apply for students who were eligible to enroll in the fall, but chose not to)

Enrollment

Visit the Ameritas website for Cornell students to enroll.

Once you click on the "Enroll Here" button, enter the Zip code for where you expect to receive care most often (for example: 14850 for the Ithaca campus; 10044 for Cornell Tech). When asked to provide your student ID number, please add “00” before your 7-digit number (for example: 001234567).

  • Fall enrollment deadline: extended to September 6, 2020 at 11:59 pm
  • Enrollment deadline for spring admits: January 31, 2021

Using your plan

Important: Once you enroll in the Dental Plan, it takes 1-3 days for your enrollment to be recognized in the Ameritas system and for you to be able to use your benefits.

Refer to Ameritas' 4-page How to Get the Most from Your Dental Benefits PDF for an overview of how to use your plan.

Register for your secure member account to get your ID card and access plan information: 

  • Go to ameritas.com
  • Sign in to your Customer (Member) Account under the Dental dropdown
  • On the Login page, select “Register Now”
  • Complete the New User Registration form

Finding participating providers 

You will get the most out of your plan by using an Ameritas participating (or "in network") provider. Refer to page 2 of your Dental Plan brochure for coverage details. 

> Find a participating provider 

Enter the zip code where you want to receive care, and select the "Class (PPO)" network. Visit Ameritas's Find a Provider page for more information and resources.