Raul Ramirez
Health insurance today is a mess. We need it but can we afford
it? We have our car insured, why not the family? "I hope nothing
happens to me so I won't need to go to the hospital." These are
all notions we have as concerned people and parents. Healthcare
is on the rise as well as premiums. COBRA is expensive but if
you have health conditions it is necessary. Are you a little
overweight or smoke? All of these are factors for getting or not
getting health insurance. What can you do in the meantime while
you think about it or lose the weight or quit smoking or maybe
you are even between jobs?
The Plan: A little known policy lingers out there you may or may
not be aware of, and that is the Short Term Medical plan. The
plan is self explanatory as it is set for a period of time. The
plans that we service go from anywhere between 30 days all the
way up to 360 days of coverage. That means that you can have
coverage for a
month or two or even six months up to a year, the
choice is yours. Short term medical plans are temporary plans
and are not meant to be permanent. Think about it this way in
that you don't have health insurance doesn't mean you don't or
won't have health problems. The short term plan is a way to get
coverage for a temporary fixed amount of time.
Why Short Term Medical? Short term medical can ease the pain of
not having health insurance for different reasons. A popular
reason why people use STM is because they are in-between jobs.
The person had coverage here and is now unemployed, the
insurance stays with the job, now they are without coverage.
Maybe you are in a waiting period of 30-90 days but do not want
to take the risk of not having any coverage at all. Waiting
periods occur with group coverage and the employer basically
wants to make sure you are worth it to offer medical coverage to.
When you have children that are reaching of age to where they
come off your plan. Usually this is when the dependent is going
off to college or graduating college. You want your dependents
to have health insurance but don't know what is offered in that
state or maybe the health coverage does not travel well. The STM
is a viable option for those in need and it is probably ranked
number 2 in why the STM is used.
So many Americans are part time or temporarily employed as well
as laid off and health coverage is not available to them. The
STM is a way to get coverage fast and not have the burden of
huge premiums lingering over their head. Remember the STM is for
temporary coverage just like the person is temporarily
unemployed, when you get on a job that offers coverage you just
simply cancel.
COBRA is the
alternative when you leave a job, get fired etc.
but it can be expensive. If you have preexisting health
problems, COBRA is probably your only alternative as you can
roll that condition into an individual policy after 18 months of
coverage. If you are a
healthy individual, you don't need to go
on COBRA you could instead while looking for another job pick up
a short term plan to get you through till your plan at your new
job is available to you.
How it Works: Typically the short term medical plan gives you
the freedom of choosing any doctor or hospital and has a
deductible for individual as well as the family. Once the
deductible is met, then the plan kicks in up to a specified
amount such as 2 million dollars. You will have an option of
coinsurance benefits as well; this is the 80/20 split or 50/50
split. The coinsurance is limited to either the first $5000 or
$10000 respectively depending on which plan is offered and with
which company. After that is met, the plan should pay 100% of
covered expenses. Pretty simple: you go to the hospital and pay
the first $250 then depending on which plan you selected it will
pay 80% of the next $5000 in charges which leaves you with $1000
and 100% after that. So if you had a whopping bill of $15000 of
covered expenses your bill would be $1250!
Qualifications The qualifications to apply for STM plans are
limited. Typically anyone under 65 years of age and children
under 19 or 25 if full time student qualify. There are limited
questions with the application process, for example 7-9
questions to answer. Height and weight is not a
factor in most
plans, so if you are struggling with weight problems in the
meantime you would qualify for short term medical plan. Be
advised that these plans do not cover preexisting conditions and
if one of them says they do, make sure you read it carefully.
You can even just get your child covered maybe before they are
eligible for your group plan or state plans.
To sum it all up the short term medical plan can be a
significant
tool for anyone to use. It can cover that gap in
coverage for whatever reason is available to you. It is not an
alternative to major medical coverage as it is only for
temporary use, but when that coverage is not available to you
this is an option for you. Many people do not know of the
existence of these plans or are touted other MiniMed plans which
can do more harm than good. Gulf Breeze Insurance Inc. a Florida
use this plan all the time to help people get through hard times
and waiting periods. I believe the phrase goes "Something is
better than nothing" and when you think your options have run
out turn to the STM plan.
About the author:
Raul Ramirez is a licensed agent in the state of Florida. He
owns and operates Gulf Breeze Insurance Inc. an independent
Health Insurance Pensacola, Florida Dental Insurance agency.
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