When married employees (or domestic partners) work for the University of Iowa in benefit-eligible positions and have dependents listed on their policy, they may be eligible for the Double Spouse Credit (DSC).

Double Spouse Credit provides family health and dental insurance at little to no cost, depending on your chosen health plan.

  • UISelect carries the zero-premium cost option for Double Spouse family coverage.
  • UIChoice carries a lower premium cost for Double Spouse family coverage.

The Double Spouse Credit benefit begins the first of the month after a qualifying event. If Double Spouse Credit is elected at open enrollment, the benefit begins on Jan. 1.

Submit Your Request

If you have a spouse/partner who is a University of Iowa new hire in a regular benefit-eligible position and are covering dependent children on your plans, you and your spouse may fill out the Request for Double Spouse Credit form within the first 30 days of your spouse/partner's hire date. 

Request for Double Spouse Credit Form (pdf)

Once you have completed the form, please send it back to the Benefits Office for processing. You may email it to benefits@uiowa.edu. 

Approval and Enrollment

Once our processing team has approved your form, they will create two new Family Status Change events for you both to work in Employee Self-Service. Our office will email both spouses/partners to notify them of the approval and provide additional instructions.

Online Enrollment

You determined who would be considered Spouse 1 and Spouse 2 on the request form that we processed.

  • Spouse 1 is the contract holder for the entire family's health and dental insurance. This employee must enroll in the desired health and dental plans for family coverage. 
  • Spouse 2 still has enrollment options for Life, Voluntary Life, AD&D, and FSA. This employee will not have the option to enroll in health or dental but will have the remaining benefit options. 

Both employees will still receive the $90 general benefit credit, and depending on other benefit elections, they may receive additional shared savings credits. 

  • Please note that when an employee becomes newly eligible for Double Spouse Credit due to the birth or adoption of a child, the employee has 60 days to submit the double spouse credit request form to the Benefits Office for review and approval. 

The Double Spouse Credit benefit begins the first of the month after a qualifying event. If Double Spouse Credit is elected at open enrollment, it begins on Jan. 1. It will remain in effect until you are no longer eligible.

Both Employed Grad Students

Graduate students at the University of Iowa who hold a university appointment of at least 25% time or a fellowship of at least $10,000 per year and are registered for classes are eligible to receive a contribution from the university toward health and dental insurance coverage.

The Double Spouse Credit will generally be advantageous to employees in these categories. If you wish to apply for the double spouse credit, 

  1. You and your spouse/partner will log in through MyUI and enroll using one form. 
  2. Check the Spouse is Grad Student with Assistantship box. 
  3. Enter a comment on the form to indicate that you would like Double Spouse Credit.

House Staff

Double Spouse Credit is available when the House Staff employee and their spouse are eligible for UIChoice or UISelect and are covering dependent children. They couple will follow the regular employee instructions at the top of this page.

House staff employees will not receive the $90 general benefit credit or additional shared savings credits. However, if the house staff's spouse/partner is in a regular benefit-eligible position, they will receive the credits, which will show on their online enrollment. 

Postdoctoral Fellows/Scholars and Temporary Staff

Double Spouse Credit is not available.