Thursday, October 18, 2012

Short-Term Health Insurance


Everyone needs health insurance. It’s not something that is nice to have, or a goal you should have for one day in the future; it is an absolute necessity when it comes to protecting your health and your financial independence. If you find yourself without insurance for a period of time, it may be tempting to save some money and go without. However, that is a risky choice to make; that’s why you have the option of short-term health insurance.


This type of insurance is suitable for a number of situations. If you just finished college and haven’t yet found your first post-grad job, short-term health insurance may be the best solution for you. It’s also a great way of getting insurance if you’ve just started a new job and are waiting through a trial for your benefits to kick in, or if you’ve been offered a job that begins six months down the road. This type of health insurance might also be appropriate if you retired but are still a few months away from turning 65 – you don’t yet qualify for Medicare, but you’ve lost the health insurance available through your work. Finally, if you are an expatriate who recently returned home to America, you may have to wait a few months before you are eligible for coverage.


If one of these situations sounds familiar, then are an ideal candidate for short-term health insurance.Your situation is not permanent; you will get health insurance soon, but you don’t want to be at risk in the interim. This type of insurance provides coverage for a limited period of time, usually anywhere from 30 days to one year. It is less expensive than standard health insurance plans, but it also provides a smaller amount of coverage. Because it is temporary, and purchased with the assumption you will have standard insurance soon, most short-term health insurance plans do not cover physicals, preventative care or immunizations; rather, they are meant to protect against unexpected illness or injury. It is meant as emergency coverage so you are protected in the worst case scenario – not as a replacement for standard, long-term health insurance.



Short-Term Health Insurance