Short term health insurance

What is Short Term Health Insurance?

The world wide recession has hit everyone very hard and the American citizens too have to undergo various difficulties.  Not only have there been job losses and layoffs, but hundreds and thousands of Americans have lost their health insurance cover.  This has created a panic among all the citizens because with escalating medical costs and no health insurance cover, even a single incidence of serious illness can leave you bankrupt. Short term health insurance is an ideal insurance plan for such individuals.

The worst hits are those who are involved in part time jobs, those who are self-employed, those youngsters graduating from the universities who are no longer covered by their parent’s health insurance covers, those who retired early and those who are in between jobs.  You would be surprised to know that a good five million individuals have retired early in America.  The total number of employees involved in part time jobs stands at an all time high of twenty two million.  With divorce cases on the rise, the total number of individuals who have lost health insurance cover due to divorce has swelled to 900,000.

It is for the above said individuals that the short term insurance plans have come as a boon.  The health insurance plans under this short term scheme range from one to a moderate six months. Most of the individuals who are looking for short term health insurance plans mainly opt for it to ward off any financial crisis in case of any major illness.  Now let us look at the various advantages of the short term plans and see how it works.

Generally, individuals who are healthy are awarded the health insurance cover immediately.  This may include both the family and individual coverage.  You would be surprised to know that the plan may start the next day itself.  This is what makes the short term insurance plans highly popular.  Your health insurance company would allow you to make a one time payment of the premium if you correctly tell them the number of days you and your family need and wish to be insured.

The short term health plans are highly flexible and allow you to choose from a variety of premium payment options.  The payment methods are designed in such a way that you can save up to a good thirty five percent on your savings.  The short term plan also covers a host of other services like surgery facilities, constant inpatient and outpatient care and services of the physician.  Here, you would be able to choose your own hospital and doctors, but ideally you would be in a more advantageous position if you resort to the hospitals and doctors included in the plan.

Thus Short Term Health insurance is temporary medical insurance meant for providing coverage for serious illness for the “in-between” times for unemployed or retired people.  Because these insurance plans last a maximum of six months, they are not designed for people who want or need a regular coverage.  There are some disadvantages with the short term plan too.  These plans would not cover everything.  These short term plans are meant for only major illness.  These plans will not cover your previous medical conditions, routine visits to the doctor and preventive care.  You must also remember that these short term plans are not available in all the states of America.

We recommend you to get short term health insurance quotes from various insurance companies and compare them before you enroll into any insurance plan.