• Short Term Health Insurance Blog

  • Saturday, February 04, 2012



Once your short term health insurance plan period is nearing its end, it seems like a signal to do something, anything that will reflect positive action towards permanent health insurance. However, it might happen that you are not ready to make a decision yet.

You might have purchased the temporary health insurance plan in a hurry, with a promise that you will think of something more permanent soon, once you get others things in order in your busy schedule. It may so happen that this period of “thinking it over” might not arrive until nearly the expiry of your 6-month temporary insurance plan.

There is no need to jump into a permanent solution in a hurry. If the temporary plan has suited you well enough, then the best thing is to continue it for a little while more till you look around and plan for a better one. You might want to renew it on a monthly basis, until you come to a decision on long-term insurance.

If you renew your insurance before the 6-month period is over, about 30 days before it is terminated, you can renew it by filling up a simple form. Following approval, the plan is renewed from the next day that the coverage ends. You will get a new certificate of insurance with a new deductible and co-insurance.


Short term health insurance does not just cover you for the plan period, it covers you for the entire treatment of the illness you suffered when under the plan period. This means that if you fell ill during the plan period and the treatment continues even after the termination date, you will still continue to enjoy the benefits.

For example, a hospitalization period that started before the termination of the insurance period might extend beyond the termination period. This means that you are in the hospital for an illness or injury that occurred during the plan period. You wonder whether you must renew the plan, or whether you will even be covered for the hospitalization.

There is no need to panic. If you are a member, or an insured dependent getting the benefits for hospitalization on the day that the Insurance Certificate terminates, the benefits will continue for as long as the confinement remains.

However, the conditions are that the termination should not be for nonpayment of premium. The benefits will continue for a period of 90 days after the termination. This is the period when the insured becomes eligible for other coverage for the same conditions, or when the maximum benefits have been reached. Benefits are then payable under the new deductible amount and the coinsurance limit.



Purchasing short term health insurance also means you are buying into one of the largest networks of health care providers and medical centers offered by the plan. As you start making use of this network, you will realize that you are actually spending less on medical care than you did earlier.

One of the main advantages of the Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) network is the discounts that are offered through this network. One of the major networks in the United States is Private Health Care Systems (PHCS).

PHCS provides you an opportunity to reduce expenses further by giving you provider and facility services. The service is voluntary and if you do not want to use the network, there is no penalty. However, you can reduce your expenses considerably by using the program.

You can easily verify if your doctor or hospital is part of the PCHS Healthy Directions Network by visiting their website. Then, at the time of visiting the doctor, you need to present your identification card that has been issued to you with the PCHS logo. You will be billed according to the reduced network rates for the services, if they are applicable.


A short term health insurance plan might seem like a lot of work, as you have to fill up all the forms, think about the options, select a plan and make the payment for a six-month period.

This might seem farfetched to you, when you might be perfectly convinced that you are not going to fall ill enough to require hospitalization in the next six months.

Especially if you are one of those people who do not like filling up forms (like 98 percent of the population), then it might seem like a lot of trouble and money for just six months. Also, you think that if you do fall ill, which might entail visiting a doctor or hospital frequently, you are sure that it will work out to less than what you would pay in premiums for the six months for you and your family.

However, if you compare the discounts that you will get, some of them nearly 40 percent and also the amounts you will save on prescription drugs, visits, illnesses of other family members, it might hit you that the paperwork was a small price to pay. Especially when you realize that it is a simple form which can be filled online, with payments also made easily online and the whole process taking less than an hour to complete!



Short term plans often offer fringe benefits that help the plan holder, along with the main plan benefits. These are additional services that the plan holder automatically receives with the plan. For example, along with your Secure Saver short term health insurance plan, you also receive membership to the Communication for America (CA) Healthy Lifestyle enhancement series. CA membership provides many benefits in addition to the health benefits offered by the insurance plan.

One of the benefits of a CA membership is the TelaDocTM that is a national network of doctors and physicians who are certified by the board. These doctors are available for consultation for cross coverage 24 hours a day, and 365 days a year.

A free discount prescription drug card is provided to all members so that even a minimal drug prescription is covered by the insurance plan. The discounted services also include remote PC access, remote meetings, remote file sharing services, remote backup and even voice mail transcriptions.

The Communicating for America application and membership are available online. CA is an organization aimed at the well-being of rural America and those who are involved in agriculture. CA offers other benefits apart from insurance, including advocacy and consultation. You become a member by paying the annual association dues. The enhancement series that you will receive will depend on your membership with CA.



There might be times when you purchase a short term health insurance plan, but realize that it is missing important coverage that you need. You then want to change the plan.

When you are dealing with a great many things like finding a new job, or trying to fit into a new job, insurance is something that needs to be taken care of quickly, like buying a pair of white socks. So you sometimes buy the first plan you read about, without even researching the other options that are offered.

However, when you mention it to your family, friends or colleagues, they all have an opinion to offer and a suggestion to give. Your family’s needs are particularly important. You might even remember some benefit that you had forgotten earlier. Maybe the permanent medical insurance in the new job is scheduled to be done within two months, instead of the six months you assumed. You have paid upfront for a six-month insurance plan.

There are two options available to you in such cases. Most plans allow cancellation of the policy, and you will receive a refund of the unused amount, less administrative and other charges. If you are simply not satisfied with the coverage, many short-term health insurance plans allow you to return the insurance certificate within 10 days for a full refund of the premium.

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