Understanding Interim Health Insurance

If you have just finished college you might find that you are no longer covered by your parent’s medical insurance policy and will need to find cover until you start a job and fall within your employer’s healthcare plan. Likewise, if you have recently started a new job, you could find that you are required to work for several weeks before becoming eligible to join his health insurance plan. These are only two of the many reasons that lead to a need for temporary health insurance coverage.

But what is temporary health insurance coverage?

As its name implies, it is medical insurance which provides health cover for a short period of time in order to allow you to maintain cover while you are moving from one permanent medical insurance plan to another. Coverage is typically issued for anywhere from one month to one year, although a lot of insurers nowadays restrict cover to a maximum period of six months. In most cases insurance companies also appreciate that it can be difficult to know just how long you are going to require temporary cover for and so are usually flexible in permitting you to extend cover beyond the original expiry date if you need to.

Temporary medical insurance plans normally provide similar cover to that of permanent policies although there are a number of important differences.

Policies are generally strictly fee-for-service policies and do not cover you for preventative treatments, like check-ups, and will exclude optical and dental coverage. Existing medical conditions and work-related illness or injury are also normally excluded.

Your interim medical insurance plan will typically cover emergency medical care, prescription drugs, hospital treatment (including intensive care treatment), laboratory and x-ray work, ambulance care and, sometimes, in-home medical care. 

So, how do you go about finding a short term medical insurance plan?

The first thing you need to do is to decide how many weeks or months you require the coverage for and when you need cover to start. Then you need to find yourself an agent who specializes in interim health insurance.

Study any plans offered with care and pay particular attention to any exclusion clauses. Do not be afraid to ask questions if there is something that you do not understand or are concerned about. Also, review the application and ensure that all of your personal information is correct before signing it. Finally, do not forget to keep a copy of the paperwork for your own files.   

The cost of a short term medical insurance plan will vary with the type of coverage you choose. You can however keep costs down by opting to have a plan with a high deductible (the sum of money that you must pay towards your healthcare before the policy pay out) with a 50/50 co-insurance option (the split in payment of each bill between the insurance company and you) rather than the more common 80/20 ratio.

Also, do not forget that there are some extras that you may wish to consider, depending on your personal circumstances. For instance, with the high cost of prescription medicines you may be better off purchasing coverage instead of leaving it off. 

Most important of all, you must to read through any temporary health insurance policy carefully and ensure you will get the coverage which you want and which you will be paying for.