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Health Insurance Article

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

health insurance provider, http://www.gulfbreezeinsurance.com ,

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.

Please feel free to use this article on your website or email so

as you include name of author and website.

http://www.gulfbreezeinsurance.com

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