Purchasing Short Term Health Insurance

The day comes when you lose your employment and, at the same time, you also lose your medical insurance plan. Luckily, temporary health insurance is one thing which can keep you going until you are able to find a new job. A temporary medical insurance policy will cover your health care requirements from the date on which you lose your job until you are eligible for benefits under another employer's plan.

Where should you begin to look for a temporary medical insurance policy?  Like most people nowadays, your first stop will possibly be one of the internet search engines and these will produced a laundry list of directories. These directories each give you a list of insurers that offer temporary medical insurance and even a few which will actually tell you precisely what it is. Knowing just what temporary health insurance is and, just as importantly, what it is not will assist you in shopping for the correct plan and keep you from getting scammed.

Firstly, each state has its own brand of temporary health insurance policy to help you in holding onto the health insurance from your previous employer. For example, in Minnesota the plan is called a Cobra Plan and covers you until you get a new job. Incidentally, state law also requires your employer to tell you about your eligibility for Cobra coverage.

Commercially available short term health insurance policies usually last for from one month to a year, although many providers limit their plans to six months, and will provide the majority of the same benefits which are offered on their long term contracts. The biggest difference you will see is that the plan is non-renewable and if you wish to keep your cover you will need to take out a further new plan. Remember however that this type of plan is intended only for temporary use and not for long term use.

A few things that will probably not be covered are preventative care and wellness checks and short term health plans will also not normally provide cover for optical or dental care. In addition, they are also often very strict when it comes to denying cover for pre existing conditions. You can usually get coverage extended to your spouse and children. Finally, you will find that the majority of plans will range in price from around $25 to $100 a month.

Keeping these things in mind, you can begin to trawl through the results of your search and examine the lists of insurers to discover one which meets your requirements. You will find that many websites will provide you with a facility to get an online discount health insurance quote.

Yet another excellent place to turn for cover is to your own car or home insurer as it is possible that they will also carry a medical insurance plan which you can get. If you are buying the policy through your own insurance company, there may be a discount available to you for having multiple policies with them.

Finally, do not forget that your local phone book may also list several places from which you can purchase short term health insurance cover in your area.