• eShortTermHealthInsurance Blog

  • Wednesday, March 10, 2010



Short term health insurance is generally something of a stop-gap arrangement. But if you are the main breadwinner of the family, your insurance will likely need to cover the entire family.

It is very tempting to think that since you have purchased an insurance policy only for the short term, maybe while you are waiting to take on a permanent medical plan, there is no need to go overboard and purchase insurance for everyone else as well. You might think that will only make it more complicated. But even six months without any health insurance is a long time. The health of the couple is always important to ensure smooth running of the family and it makes sense, if it isn’t mandatory, for everyone in the family to remain insured.

Most short term health insurance plans allow you to add your spouse and children to the same plan. The spouse should be less than 65 years old and should not be covered by any other medical insurance.

If you apply for insurance for your spouse under the Secure Saver plan, the daily deductible family maximum is considered as satisfied if two members of a family each satisfy their individual daily deductible. Sometimes, it makes more sense to purchase family insurance than individual plans.


With the world celebrating International Woman's Day today, let's take a look at what a woman really needs. Being a woman means having to multi-task with a hundred things needing her attention. And these tasks might not include a full-time job with the long term medical benefits that go with it. Needless to say, health is still a priority, and in this situation, short term health insurance becomes a necessity.

Imagine what a homemaker does in a day--from making breakfast, taking care of children, finishing the chores, driving the kids to soccer practice, not to mention preparing dinner! In one of the most underrated jobs in the world, the woman is so overworked, or occupied throughout the day that there is hardly time for her to take care of herself.

For a woman who does not have time to take care of herself, small injuries or illnesses often have a way of flaring up, making the woman realize that she needs to get treated immediately. Health insurance therefore is imperative for the woman. But it often happens that the decision to purchase family insurance might have been put off until later.

Short term health insurance is an ideal alternative. The many options of single payment or monthly payments give the family the time to decide on health insurance for the entire family.


The Secure Saver short term health insurance plan helps you save your money even while you are covered for exigencies. As with most insurance plans, understanding the benefits of a plan will help save money on premiums by choosing appropriate options that work for your budget.

For healthy individuals between the ages of 18 to 64 who do not anticipate any medical emergency that would result in an expensive hospital stay or treatment, the Secure Saver plan offers ideal coverage. The savings can be increased if family members including the spouse or children between the ages of 2 and 18 are also covered under the family maximum.

The Secure Saver plan allows you to choose from four daily maximums instead of a calendar year deductible. You can choose a daily deductible maximum of $250 that will cover any expense. For a visit to the physician, there is also a co-pay of $50.

The daily deductibles that you can select are: $250, $500, $750, and $1000. Once an insured person pays the deductible amount selected, the amount that exceeds this amount as medical expenses on the same day will be covered fully.


It is possible to have short term health insurance that will give you full medical benefits even while you are working on a part-time job that does not entitle you to permanent medical insurance.

A part-time job is a necessity for many people—for instance, mothers with small children, people working on a job while they are waiting to discover their ideal job, and people working two part-time jobs that are equally interesting to them.

However, a part-time job does not cover you for medical benefits and it would become too expensive if you happen to fall ill.

But a part-time job's income can definitely enable you to purchase short term health insurance that will cover you for short periods (up to 6 months) for any major illness. The options in the policy also allow you to choose a one-time payment or a month-to-month payment for the premium. You can also choose to extend the insurance if you decide to continue with the part-time job or cancel it if you decide to switch over to a permanent job with medical insurance.


Pre-certification is an essential part of availing the benefits of the short term health insurance plan that you purchase. This means that you have to notify the insurance company before you get admitted into a hospital for a non-emergency condition. Failure to do this may mean that you will get only half the amount of the medical expenses.

For example, let's say you had a pretty nasty fall and though there are no outward signs of injury, you consult a doctor, who suggests an immediate scan. The scan indicates that the pain in your leg needs to be treated. The doctor recommends you that you come in for a couple of days for treatment, which will then be followed by physiotherapy.

You need to inform the insurance company in advance that you will be getting admitted into the hospital for the time that the doctor has specified. The advance period specified depends on the plan chosen--some require the treatment to be pre-certified not less than 10 days in advance.

In case of an emergency situation, you need to notify the insurance company within 48 hours after getting admitted (or whenever reasonably possible). The hospital administration usually reminds a patient about insurance in such cases. Pre-certification, however, does not mean that you are guaranteed of the benefits.


Quitting a job can be traumatizing and unsettling, especially when you have been in a job for a long time and have become comfortable with the fringe benefits, especially medical insurance. A suitable short term health insurance plan can ably fill the insurance gap until you find your next job.

A medical insurance plan is one of the treasured benefits of a steady job. However, when you quit a job, for a better job or to take some time off, or if you have been let go, then the medical insurance plan that you had is withdrawn. The most common option given to you is COBRA insurance, but that can be a complicated process, and is not as cheap as the employer-sponsored plan.

You can purchase a short term medical insurance plan even before your two weeks' notice is up, which will ensure that there is no interruption in the coverage after you leave the office. The insurance plan will continue for the next six months or a year, by which time you will find another job. You can always renew the insurance plan after the plan period.

If you are leaving your job and your medical insurance is covered for another few days, then you can request for a date from when the medical coverage should start for the short term health insurance. Most plans stipulate that the effective period should not be more than 60 days after cessation of coverage.

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