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What is Short Term Health Insurance?
Some insurance policies offer policies designed to tide people through short lapses in health insurance coverage. These policies are called short-term or temporary health insurance policies.
While it may be possible for you to find a short-term health insurance policy that will cover you for up to 36 months, most of these policies are limited to 12 months of coverage or less. Short-term policies are ideal for healthy people who are going through some kind of transition - for example, recent college graduates waiting for health insurance benefits at their first job to begin.
The operative term here is "healthy" - short-term health insurance policies are underwritten, which means that the insurance company must be satisfied that you are not likely to make many claims for the duration of the policy.
The application process for short-term health insurance is extremely simple and can be done completely online in typically less than 5 minutes. Short-term health insurance plans are designed to protect against unforeseen accidents or illnesses, rather than to provide comprehensive coverage, and, as such, typically do not include coverage for preventive care, physicals, and immunizations, dental or vision care.
Short-term health insurance plans do not cover pre-existing medical conditions. The definition of a pre-existing condition varies by state, but, in general, short-term health insurance policies exclude coverage for conditions that have been diagnosed or treated within the previous 3 to 5 years
How Much Does It Cost?
Short-term health insurance tends to be significantly cheaper than other types of insurance, including COBRA continuation coverage. Some people may qualify for comprehensive coverage for less than $200/month. This is why some people who lose their job-based insurance choose short-term policies rather than electing COBRA. However, if you fail to elect and exhaust your COBRA continuation coverage, you will lose several consumer rights - including your right to coverage of any preexisting medical conditions, and your right to purchase a permanent individual health insurance policy at a later date.
If you do decide to buy a short-term health insurance policy, make sure you understand what you are getting for your money. If you find a policy for $X/month, but it has a HUGE deductible per injury or illness, you will be paying for virtually all of your medical expenses out of pocket.
Such a policy would only protect you if you suffered an extremely costly injury or illness. Make sure you read your policy papers and understand what your likely out-of-pocket expenses will be.
How Soon Can My Coverage Start?
Coverage can start tomorrow. If you and your family qualify (answer the medical questions online to see if you qualify) you can most likely have next day coverage starting at 12:01 A.M., contact me for further more specific information and confirmation on your expected start day and time for coverage.
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What Is Covered?
Short-term policies generally do not cover routine preventative care or preexisting conditions. However, if you become ill or injured while covered under a short-term health insurance policy, any emergency services, hospitalization, diagnostic test, or follow-up visit charges you incur should be covered under your policy. As long as your health care expenses can be linked to a specific illness or injury suffered during the term of coverage, you should be covered.
Short term health insurance plans are an ideal solution for:
- A college student or recent graduate who is just starting out
- People in non-traditional jobs
- Temporary employees seeking health insurance
- People in career transition
- Self-employed
- Between long term health insurance plans
- Recently laid off or unemployed
- Looking for a lower-cost alternative to COBRA coverage
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Short Term Health Insurance is temporary health insurance coverage for 30 days to 6 or 12 months.
Eligibility and Underwriting:
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Healthy individuals between the ages of 15 days and age 64 and 11 months, who have a temporary insurance need.
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Dependent children through age 20 (age 24 if full-time student) may be covered as dependents on parents' plan.
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Foreign residents living in the U.S. for at least one year with proof of Alien Registration Receipt Card, Green Card, Visa or other appropriate documentation.
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Underwriting is easier than regular health plans since preexisting conditions will never be covered.
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