An Introduction To Temporary Medical Insurance

If you have finished college recently you may find that you are no longer covered by your parent’s health insurance plan and will need to find cover until you get a job and fall within your employer’s health insurance scheme. Equally, if you have recently started a new job, you could find that you are required to work for several weeks before you are eligible to join his health insurance scheme. These are merely two of the many reasons for a need for temporary health insurance coverage.

So what is short term medical insurance coverage?

Well, as its name implies, it is health insurance which provides medical cover for a short period of time to let you maintain cover while you are moving from one permanent medical insurance plan to another. Coverage is generally issued for anywhere from one to twelve months, although many companies nowadays restrict policies to a maximum of six months. In the majority of cases insurance companies also understand that it is not always easy to know precisely how long you will require temporary cover for and so are frequently reasonably flexible in allowing you to extend cover beyond the original expiry date if you need to.

Interim health insurance usually provides similar cover to that seen on permanent plans but there are some very important differences.

Policies are normally strictly indemnity plans and do not provide cover for preventative treatments, like check-ups, and will also exclude dental and optical coverage. Existing health conditions and work-related illness or injury are also usually excluded.

A temporary medical insurance plan will normally cover you for emergency medical care, medicines, hospital and intensive care treatment, laboratory and x-ray work, ambulance care and, occasionally, in-home medical care. 

So, how do you go about finding a short term health insurance policy?

Your first step should be to decide how many weeks or months you need cover for and when you want cover to start. Then you need to find yourself an agent who specializes in temporary health insurance.

Look at any policies offered carefully and pay close attention to the exclusion clauses. Do not be afraid to ask questions if there is anything which you do not understand or are worried about. In addition, review your application and ensure that your personal information is accurate before signing anything. Lastly, remember to keep a copy of all the paperwork for your own records.   

The cost of a short term medical insurance plan will vary with the type of cover you choose. However, you can keep the cost down by opting to have a plan with a high deductible (the sum of money which you must pay towards your medical bills before the plan pay out) with a 50/50 co-insurance option (the split of each bill after the deductible has been met between you and the insurer) instead of the usual 80/20 split.

Do not forget too that there are some extras which you may wish to think about, depending on your particular circumstances. For instance, with the high cost of prescription drugs you might be better off buying coverage instead of leaving it off. 

The most important thing is to remember to read through any interim health insurance policy carefully and make sure you will get the coverage which you want and which you will be paying for.