Nearly 5,000 University of Idaho students received unexpected emails regarding their spring 2026 health insurance coverage because of a recent system update, according to school officials. UI, in compliance with the Affordable Care Act, must verify that eligible students – defined as full-time for undergraduate, graduate and law students, student athletes taking one or more credits and all international students – have sufficient insurance coverage. Each semester, students must submit a waiver that includes their health insurance coverage information, or they will automatically be enrolled in the university’s Student Health Insurance Program. On Jan. 22, another email was sent to roughly 5,000 SHIP-eligible students, saying they had not completed the insurance submission requirement. “This occurred as the university implemented a new process linking approved insurance information to the billing system,” Eckles wrote.