Health Insurance
A short term health insurance plan can fill in coverage gaps that a person experiences from time to time. Anyone who isn’t able to get the health insurance plan that they are wanting or that isn’t happy with their current plan may be able to benefit from the limited coverage and affordable rates that these plans offer.
Medical insurance can be very expensive, and many people are not able to afford a major medical plan. Obamacare and Medicare plans can be costly or simply too restrictive in their eligibility requirements. A lot of people fall in between the eligibility guidelines for these plans and cannot enroll in either one for a period of time. That’s what makes short term medical insurance so helpful. It is open to practically anyone, and there are very few restrictions as to who can sign up for this kind of insurance plan.
You Could Be Covered Exactly How You Need to Be
One of the big ways that short term insurance is better than major medical insurance is in the coverage. Yes, short term plans tend to be very limited in how much coverage they can provide, but that also means you won’t be paying for coverage that doesn’t really apply to you. You can focus on only getting the coverage that you want. You can also sign up for just about any kind of short term coverage plan you want, focusing on dental coverage, emergency coverage, urgent care cover, routine checkup coverage and more. You can choose from a long list of plans no matter which insurer you choose to buy the plan from.
Here are some of the medical expenses that a short term plan could cover for you:
Hospitalization
Ambulance services
ER care
Unexpected medical problems
Preventative care
Medications
Routine doctor’s visits
Many of the insurance plans will give you coverage so long as you stay within their network, or you will get greater discounts and coverage within the network. That would mean that when you go to any medical care facility that has an agreement with your insurance company, you can save even more money. There may be limits to your coverage. For instance, you may only be covered for the first $1,000 of medical expenses related to your coverage. There may be exclusions as well, such as no coverage being provided for preexisting medical conditions. Short term plans usually don’t take care of any preexisting condition or expenses related to it, unlike major medical plans which are subject to the ACA guidelines.
The ACA, or Affordable Care Act, requires any insurance plans that fall under its jurisdiction to not only cover preexisting medical conditions and not exclude any customers who have these conditions but also to provide essential medical services to the customer. Short term plans do not have to do any of that, so they are more limited and restrictive in that regard.
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The Cost of Short Term Coverage
Major medical insurance can be prohibitively costly for many people. This is why so many people these days are turning to short term coverage as a way to make their healthcare much more affordable. How much will you pay for a short term plan? That depends on a number of factors, like the amount of coverage provided, where you live and which insurers you choose. All of these figure into the cost of the plan, and you can use our site to source some quotes and compare prices on short term health insurance.
You will need to pay a monthly premium for your plan. A health insurance quote will give you the cost of the premium, and the premium may increase when you renew your plan, so be aware of that.
The deductible is what you have to pay before you can get any coverage from your plan. This is due once a year, and it is usually considerably higher than the premium. Be sure to look at the deductible cost before you agree to the terms of the plan, and some deductibles will be so high as to hurt the value of the insurance plan and simply unaffordable for you. A low premium can often be attached to a high deductible, so watch for that when you compare medical insurance plans.
Copays may be due after you receive certain medical care services. You may be required to pay out of pocket directly after you receive medical services, and your insurance company will pay at the same time, reducing your overall costs.
Coinsurance is another potential fee for some medical services. This is the percentage of the cost that you pay for your medical expenses. The insurance company will pay its percentage at the same time. This is similar to the copay, except that it is always a percentage, whereas the copay is always a fixed amount.
There may be other fees that are required of you as well, such as fees for going to a medical care facility that is out of your insurer’s network. Any costs related to a preexisting condition are yours to pay, as will be most maternity care costs, since those are not typically covered by a short term medical insurance plan.
If you want to know more about the costs that are required of you, then please get in touch with us. We can help you figure all of that out and provide you with some quotes that will help you to make a more informed decision.
Enrolling in Short Term Coverage
Short term medical coverage is really easy to sign up for. You just decide what you want and when you want it and then put in your application. You can apply online or at a physical insurance company. Your application will usually be processed in a matter of minutes or hours, and then you can often get coverage that starts the very next day. That is how quickly short term health coverage usually works.
There isn’t any enrollment period you need to be aware of, as you can enroll at any time of year. That is a big change from major medical plans like Obamacare and Medicare that have fixed enrollment periods during which you need to apply. Short term plans have a lot more freedom and flexibility, which is why many people sign up with them when they are waiting for the enrollment period on a major medical plan or when they are waiting for their coverage to start from another plan.
You can enroll in short term plans for as short as 30 days, and you can get a plan that will last you for up to 364 days. You can decide how long you want the plan to last for, but know that there are limits to how long the plans can last that will differ from one state to another. Even individual insurance companies can limit the length of these plans, so be aware of the potential for stricter limits on short term coverage.
Do you need a short term health insurance plan? Check out the rates here on our site, and we will show you how different insurers in your area compare. You can get an idea of how much these plans will cost and figure out if they might be the affordable healthcare option that you are looking for.
