Short Term Insurance Substitute COBRA Insurance
When one has recently been given the pink slip, COBRA insurance usually steps in to continue coverage. However, its price tag could be very steep, and a better alternative might be short term health insurance. These days, this cost distinction becomes even more important.
What is COBRA insurance? It is a plan that continues coverage for a maximum of 18 months after the loss of previous coverage. However, the rate of COBRA coverage is not the same as the original comprehensive coverage, a fact that might be missed by many. Qualification for COBRA coverage is also not automatic, and short term insurance can prove a worthy substitute.
Your short term insurance plan is also called temporary insurance, and offers typical short term benefits: primarily unexpected medical illnesses. A range of benefits including physician consults, hospitalization, prescriptions, diagnostic exams, ambulance services, and emergency care are usually part of the short term health insurance plan. As short term benefits usually go, you will not be covered for previously existing conditions and pregnancy.
You can usually purchase temporary insurance for periods ranging from a month to a year. Remember that some plans may consider each renewal a new policy, which means that the premium rates may have changed, and also your eligibility in terms of pre-existing conditions. You will find that the process of renewal is actually very simple and easy.
While a person can use short term health insurance to tide over an otherwise uninsured period in life, temporary insurance cannot substitute long-term insurance, which provides full permanent medical coverage, including routine check-ups, pregnancy, and other medical conditions.
Short term health insurance can be considered comparable and creditable coverage, especially for group plans. The importance of getting the tag arises in terms of assessing the applicant to see whether he/she has been continuously covered, and also in determining the applicable pre-existing conditions for the plan.
A short term health insurance is also easier to get into, since there are not many underwriting procedures, unlike COBRA insurance. It can also be done online via a few clicks of the mouse.
If you are considering short term medical insurance, ensure that you want it as temporary insurance. It’s best if you are looking at purchasing short term medical insurance for six months or less. It also works well as an alternative to COBRA insurance, and can help you tide over uncertain periods in life.
Dan Miller often writes about short term insurance.
