Health-y-Insurance

When one has recently been given the pink slip, COBRA insurance usually steps in to continue coverage. However, its price tag could be very steep, and a better alternative might be Short-term medical insurance. These days, this cost distinction becomes even more important.

You might have heard the term COBRA insurance being bandied about at your workplace. It is essentially coverage that commences after a person loses his/her employment, so that coverage is continuous. However, the rate of COBRA coverage is not the same as the original comprehensive coverage, a fact that might be missed by many. In this scenario, temporary insurance provides a viable alternative.

Short-term medical insurance offers a load of benefits including physician visits in case of illness, hospitalization, and most medical care. A range of benefits including physician consults, hospitalization, prescriptions, diagnostic exams, ambulance services, and emergency care are usually part of the short term health insurance plan. As short term benefits usually go, you will not be covered for previously existing conditions and pregnancy.

Short-term medical insurance can be purchased for a month, to a year, in most cases. The policy can usually be renewed quite easily; however, some plans consider each renewed policy as a new one, applying pre-existing conditions and premium clauses accordingly.

It is important to remember that short term insurance cannot be an adequate long-term health insurance plan. It is primarily meant as coverage for temporary periods. Long term health insurance plans offer several critical benefits not often available to the short term health insurance customer: scheduled physician visits and maternity, for instance.

When applying for long term health insurance later, you might be asked about continuous coverage, and some short term insurance plans apply toward continuous coverage. Labeling an insurance plan as creditable coverage means that the plan counts as equivalent coverage when determining pre-existing conditions and effective continuous period of coverage. Short-term medical insurance plans are usually not considered creditable coverage for individual plans.

You can easily purchase short term health insurance online. Since the plan is temporary, you are not usually subjected to lengthy underwriting procedures.

Short-term medical insurance works best for people who are looking for stop-gap insurance between jobs and if insurance is expected to be required for six months or less. It can provide a viable alternative to COBRA insurance in case of a person losing his/her job. In that uncertain situation, short-term health insurance can step up to the plate and deliver.