• Short Term Health Insurance Blog

  • Saturday, February 04, 2012



Short term health insurance comes in many flavors. You can, for instance, purchase a fixed benefit plan, which offers a set maximum for each covered medical condition, or you can purchase a comprehensive benefit plan, which offers coverage up to the policy maximum, covering applicable usual, customary and reasonable charges for the treatment.

For example, the Assurant Short Term Medical plan is a comprehensive benefits plan, and offers coverage up to a lifetime maximum of $2 million. The Secure 12x3 Short Term Medical insurance plan is a fixed benefit plan, and offers a maximum coverage of $750,000 per coverage period. Please note that this is not a lifetime maximum, and if you purchase another plan, you will be insured for $750,000 again. Both plans feature deductibles and co-insurance amounts.

The Assurant Short Term Medical plan offers benefits for doctors visits, inpatient and outpatient care, emergency room care, ambulance services, prescription drugs, surgery, and transplants. The limits of coverage are determined by the UCR rates prescribed for the zip code and type of medical treatment.

The 12x3 plan includes the following benefits: doctors office visits up to four visits per coverage period; in-hospital regular care charges, up to $1,000 per day including room and board charges; intensive or critical care charges up to $1,250 per day; surgery charges up to $1,000 per day; and ambulance charges up to $250 per emergency. This is only a partial list of the benefits.


When you’re out of a job, or just plain suddenly out of insurance, a short term health insurance plan may be the right option. Although it may seem like an extra expense, especially when you are young, you might be able to save some money using the many options that some of the temporary insurance plans provide.

When you choose coverage with the Secure Saver STM plan, for example, you are able to save some money by using the PPOs of the plan: ACS and MultiPlan. When you fall ill and you receive treatment through an ACS- or MultiPlan-affiliated healthcare provider, you will receive some discounts for covered expenses. A full list of the covered expenses is available in the scheduled benefits section of your plan.

When you are unable to use a PPO, and use another provider instead, the company will still try to get you a discount. Any discount that is negotiated will eventually be passed on to you.

Remember, however, that the discounts will not be paid to you, but will only be reflected in the bill. You will be responsible for any deductible, co-pay and coinsurance that you owe, according to the plan you purchase. A list of the eligible PPO healthcare facilities is available on the web site of the individual PPOs.


Sometimes, one just wishes that buying everything in life worked like shopping at a mall— where you can return products you don’t like, with full credit. More so with health insurance, especially temporary insurance, where you are bombarded with so much information that you wish you had time to sort things out.

As a matter of fact, some short term medical insurance plans such as the Secure 12x3 STM plan offer just that option with the “free look period.” If, for example, you purchase the insurance plan and have not made a claim, you can return the Certificate of Insurance within 10 days of the plan becoming effective to receive a refund of the premium.

There might be some reduction in the premium refund, corresponding to administrative costs, but this is a great option for those who purchase the plan, only to discover that their needs are different from what the plan offers.

The Secure 12x3 STM plan is a fixed benefits medical insurance plan, with coverage for up to four scheduled doctor visits per year, inpatient and outpatient care, and ambulance services, among others. The maximum benefit under the plan is $750,000 per benefit period.


The health insurance industry is likely to face some massive upheaval in view of the health care reforms initiated recently. The reforms also include a legislation that will create a plan for short term health insurance with certain caps on how much a person can pay out of pocket. This part of the reform is targeted mainly at early retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare benefits.

While this could mean good news for early retirees, it also means that rates for short term health insurance, along with those of most health insurance costs, are also likely to see an upward trend. How much this will impact the person who has just lost his/her job remains to be seen.

But what exactly does the proposed temporary insurance legislation provide? It aims to create a “high-risk” pool that comprises those who have a pre-existing condition, and have been uninsured for six continuous months. The government plans to provide this high-risk group with plans that feature subsidized premiums.

The legislation caps the premium at four times the premium that a younger person pays. This program is expected to be in place within three months of the act becoming law. However, remember that if a person does not have a pre-existing condition, there will be no subsidized coverage until 2014.
When you’re out of a job, in between jobs, or an early retiree, choosing the right short term health insurance plan can be a new experience. You might also find yourself getting confused about how much your benefit limit should be, and what deductible you should choose.

The Short Term Medical plan offered by Assurant Health breaks down the process into simple steps, and offers a fixed $2 million maximum lifetime benefit. Assurant Health has been in the field of short term health insurance since 1973.

The plan offers three deductible choices: $500, $1,000 and $2,500. When choosing the deductible, remember this: the higher the deductible, the lower your premium. The flip side to this is that if you make a claim, the deductible is the first amount that will be paid out of pocket.

The Assurant plan is a 80-20 co-insurance plan, up to $10,000 in medical bills, after the deductible. For expenses that exceed $10,000, the plan pays 100 percent. The plan offers a host of additional programs and savings through its prescription discount plan and membership to other organizations that offer other health resources and discounts. Your search for temporary health insurance plan may just end with Assurant.


Divorce can be a traumatic experience, involving a lot of legalese and paperwork. Those who have had their long-term health insurance through their spouse, as a dependent, need not add health insurance to their list of woes if they opt for the quick and easy short term health insurance.

Short term health insurance can be especially helpful in those cases where a divorced spouse does not have health insurance from his/her employer, or when unemployed. Even for those whose employers offer health insurance, it might take some time for the insurance plan to become effective, and temporary insurance can provide the insurance needed to bridge the gap to ensure that a person does not stay uninsured.

Plans such as the Secure Saver Short Term Medical Insurance plan help a person protect themselves against the monetary shocks of a sudden illness or injury. Typical benefits include inpatient and outpatient care, emergency services, accidental death and dismemberment, and usually exclude pre-existing conditions and any treatment considered unnecessary.

However, since regular health care such as routine eye and dental examinations and pre-existing conditions are excluded, short term medical plans must not substitute long-term coverage. If children are involved in the divorce, try to keep them on the long-term medical plan, or switch over to a long-term plan as soon as possible.

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