Who Needs the Short Term Health Care Plan?
July 27th, 2010 | 
Author: Everyone knows that there is a wide array of health insurance plans available on the market today. One that you may not be familiar with, however, is called a short term health insurance plan.
If you have heard of these plans before, you may wonder why it exists and who should use one. Shockingly enough, most us could benefit from this kind of plan at one point or another.
So, Who Needs the Short Term Health Care Plan?
This type of health insurance plan is ideal for recent college grads. That is because they lose the coverage they carried throughout college upon graduation – even if they have been covered under the same plan all through school.
Therefore, they need to have some kind of health insurance coverage to protect them from the time their college policy ends to the time that they find a job that offers medical insurance.
Additionally, recently employed individuals often benefit from the use of short term health insurance. This is because even if their new employer offers health insurance coverage, chances are there is a waiting period after their hire date before they can actually enroll in their employer’s plan – generally 60 to 90 days.
Different Types of Short Term Insurance
There are three primary short term health insurance plan types. The most common (and shortest duration) type is the 12 month insurance policy. A 24 and 36 month insurance policy may also be available. The 12 month policy is generally the one that is offered by most insurance companies.
Keep In Mind – Preexisting Medical Problems
It is important to be aware that the vast majority of short term health insurance plans do not cover preexisting medical conditions. This can be a significant problem if you generally use your health insurance to cover costs associated with a preexisting condition, such as diabetes.
If you do have a preexisting condition, you should determine whether the short term policy you are considering will cover associated health care costs.
Finally, it’s fairly typical that short term insurance policies will have more exceptions than standard health insurance policies.
For example, most of these short term policies don’t cover any kind of preventive care or treatment – and their coverage may be limited in many other areas as well.
If you are considering a short term health insurance policy, it is imperative that you understand its associated limitations and read the policy carefully before signing up.
