Short Term Health Insurance 2020
Not every kind of health insurance is a serious commitment that is meant to cover you for a lengthy period of time. There are many short term health insurance 2020 plans available that are very flexible and that are designed to cater to a lot of different people.
These are plans that come in a wide range of terms and with lots of different options for you to pick from. This means that you can find one that fits you very well and that is exactly what your situation requires. If you are struggling to pay your medical bills or to get a healthcare plan in time for a deadline, short-term coverage may be right for your situation.
How Long Is a Short-Term Plan For?
The short-term name doesn’t exactly tell you how long your plan will be good for, and the good news is the the length is kind of up to you. You can decide from plans that last for just 30 days or that will be activated for 36 months. Of course, there is a whole range of plans in between those lengths to pick from as well.
Short-term plans are never meant to be permanent solutions to the coverage problem. They will actually be different from major medical plans or long-term plans. The short-term plans will vary from state to state, both in length and availability. You may not have the same options open to you in every state, and some areas of the country may not even offer short-term plans. Use our site to check your area or the area you may be moving to and see if the plan you want is available there. The availability of the plans changes every so often, so keep checking back with us to see if anything has happened with the plans and if you have new options open to you that you could consider.
Why Would You Use a Short-Term Plan?
These kinds of plans are not supposed to be permanent, so why would anyone sign up for them, especially since they cover less than a major medical plan would? Well, the answer to that is that some people go through very different situations. There will be temporary or transitional stages that happen in life, such as moving from one state to another or going from one job to another. During that time, the coverage that you have may not work for you or may be cancelled or expired. That means that you need to get something to fill in the gaps, and short-term plans are excellent at that.
If you suffer a major medical problem that your current plan doesn’t provide coverage for, then signing up for an additional plan with some short-term coverage may be the right way to go. You may also want a short-term plan if you are not eligible yet for the plan you want or you missed the sign up period, known as Open Enrollment. If you wanted to sign up for something like Medicare or Medigap to have your healthcare expenses taken care of, then you have to sign up during the enrollment period. Some people miss that window of time, which is usually about two months long. If that happens, then a short-term plan can fill in for you until you can get the kind of coverage you want to have for the long-term.
How Short-Term Plans Provide Cover for Healthcare Costs
The coverage that a short-term plan gives you will vary from one plan to another and from one carrier to another. The carriers design their own plans and decide what each plan covers. The carries can change their pricing and coverage at any time, so you can use our site to keep track of those changes and be aware of what is changing before you make your decision. Once you sign up for a plan, the coverage and price cannot change.
There are tons of different expenses these plans can cover for you, and some of them are very targeted and specific. Let’s look at some of the more general coverage options to give you an idea of what might be covered and what you can look for in a short-term plan.
They can cover you for any of the following:
- Preventative medicine (drugs, tests, surgery, and more)
- Emergency medicine (ER visits, ambulatory care, ambulance transport, and more)
- Urgently needed care
- Medical supplies (bandages, pints of blood, needles, and more)
- Diagnostic services (tests, x-rays, scans, and more)
- Dental services
- Hearing and vision checkups
The cost tends to go up with the more coverage plan has, but you can still find affordable coverage plans by using our site and the quote sourcing tools we provide. We will get you a list of quotes for any plan that you are interested in. We can also provide personal advice about medical insurance, if you get in contact with us. All of these services are free to you, and there is no obligation for you to sign up for anything or pay anything for using them.
The Cost of a Short-Term Plan
The rates change regularly on the plans, and they are set by individual insurance companies. Our website offers you a free and easy way to compare quotes from a variety of different carriers. We also only give you local, relevant quotes that are accurate and up to date, so you can trust that you are getting information you can use. It’s far simpler and faster than trying to source quotes from the insurance carriers directly.
Once you sign up for one of these plans, your rates will be locked in, but when it comes time to renew the plan, you may be faced with a higher rate to pay to continue using the same plan. You can make use of our site to compare the plan to other plans from a variety of carriers, and that can help you find the best plan. Many times, the same plan with the same coverage is sold at a wide range of prices. The rate change from one carrier to another and one location to the next. This means that you can get the coverage you want at an affordable price, if you just keep looking. We can help you do that and speed up the search for a great deal. There is no better service to use when you want to know the price of a short-term health insurance 2020 plan and how it compares to the other options.
Carriers for Short-Term Plans
All short-term health insurance plans are sold by private insurance companies. They are not part of the Medicare lineup at all, so you do have to go to a non-government company to get your plan. Some of them will be offering plans that are compatible with Medicare plans or Obamacare, but most of them offer alternatives to those government options.
Each carrier has its own weaknesses and strengths. You should be comparing those and not only the prices. Look for signs of a strong and stable company that is unlikely to change its rates without warning. Look for a company that has a good reputation for customer service and a company that takes care of its members by offering substantial benefits. You can also look for a large company that has numerous resources to pull from, a large network and lots of perks for being their member.
We want to tell you about a few of the more notable insurance carriers for short-term plans. There are many others, but these are worth talking about, as most people will likely sign up with one of them in 2020:
Pivot Health (NYSE: PVOT) is a major up-and-comer in the short-term health insurance niche. It has been offering substantial short-term plans for a few years now and has garnered an excellent reputation for customer service in that time. Pivot is probably best known for offering very affordable versions of short-term plans that appeal to a wide range of consumers.
If you choose National General Accident & Health (NYSE: NGHC), you can benefit from serious member perks, a strong national network and a wide selection of great plans. Their prices are not as competitive as Pivot, but they offer a longer history and a more stable base from which to draw resources and provide member services.
With United Healthcare, you can experience the powerful coverage of a major medical insurance carrier along with the senior focus of AARP, which is one of their subsidiaries now. United Healthcare is incredibly expansive and strong, so it is a good choice for those seeking medical insurance anywhere in the country.
The Changing Face of Short-Term Plans
If you have kept up with the history of short-term plans, you may be confused about some of the lengths of their terms. You may be familiar with short-term plans that are only as short as three months and that are limited to less than a year. Those limits were valid during Barack Obama’s administration as US President, but under President Donald Trump, some things have changed about short-term plans.
Now these are plans that can be as short as one month, or 30 days. So you can sign up for them during a very short transitional period and then switch to another plan with no issues. They can also be as long as three years. The original plans are only going to be valid for up to 364 days, but you can renew that plan for a total of three years, giving you a much longer plan. That can be useful if you signed up for the plan for the short term but then ended up needing it for longer, as happens sometimes. You can’t always predict how your situation will develop and when it will end, so having renewable short-term plans that take care of you for a few years can be a real lifesaver.
Short-term plans may change again in a year or so, and in order to keep track of those changes and determine how they will affect you, it is a good idea to keep checking back with us on our website here. We will post news related to short-term plans as it happens and keep you updated on prices and coverage. You can check our site for new rates anytime you like, and it will cost you nothing. You can check rates as many times as you like, and it is a good idea to check them often to see if there is a better plan for you somewhere that you have not considered yet.
The major benefit of the short-coverage plan is how flexible it is. You can keep on renewing these plans for years or get one that only lasts a month or two. You can choose the kind of coverage you want or change your mind repeatedly while still getting short-term plans from the same provider. You can even string multiple plans together to create a larger network of coverage for yourself. In some cases, you can get an ancillary plan to add onto your existing long-term plans.
Keep in mind that short-term plans are not simply for people who have no coverage whatsoever. Many of the people who sign up for these plans and who benefit from them are people who already have long-term plans. They simply need a bit of extra coverage for a while or need something to cover them while their current plan is in transition.
If that sounds like you, then you should look into the short term health insurance 2020 has for you. It’s possible that you will find a plan that you love and that covers the essentials for you. Just because things are changing for you does not mean that you have to deal with it on your own. Let short-term healthcare coverage and our team of experts help you face changing health and insurance situations with confidence.
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