Short-term health insurance, sometimes called temporary health insurance, provides medical coverage for a limited period of time. It is designed to help bridge gaps in your health care coverage during times of transition. You may need it when you are in-between jobs, waiting on employer or government-sponsored health benefits, or have missed the Annual Enrollment Period.
Short-term plans do not cover all of the ten essential health benefits that ACA health plans are required to cover. These plans also often don’t cover maternity care, mental health care, preventive care, treatment for sports injuries, many surgeries, and other commonly used benefits.
Short-term policies can use medical underwriting to reject less healthy people or those with certain health conditions. As a result, this makes the cost of short-term plans much lower than regular insurance plans.
Short Term Health Insurance plans have no Open Enrollment restrictions, so you can apply for one any time of the year.
A new rule was finalized in 2019 which extended the limit of short term health plans to 12 months with the option to renew coverage up to 3 years.
Unlike traditional insurance, which covers pre-existing conditions, short-term insurance plans do not provide pre-existing condition coverage. Short-term policies only protect against unforeseen incidents, covering basic medical needs and emergencies.
Once your short-term insurance coverage period ends, you cannot renew your existing policy. However, you may be able to enroll in a new short-term health insurance policy. You can usually enroll in up to two policies each year.
Only 29% of short-term plans cover prescription medications.