How Short Term Medical Plans Work

(gentle music) You've done your homework, you've learned all about the various types of health insurance on the market. Your pick? For right now, is it short term medical plan? Because you think it may be the right choice to help you bridge a gap in your coverage. Before you make that final decision, it's important to understand exactly how short term insurance works. Short term medical plans, underwritten by Golden Rule Insurance Company, offer a number of options in terms of deductible, coinsurance, out-of-pocket maximum and lifetime maximum benefit. but what does that mean to you and your budget? Let's take a closer look. A deductible is what you pay before your plan starts paying some of your covered expenses. In general, a plan with a lower monthly premium, may typically have a higher deductible. After you've met your deductible, you then pay a percentage of covered expenses. That's called coinsurance, which you pay up to the out-of-pocket maximum amount you selected. Let's say your plan has 30% coinsurance, assuming you've met your deductible,

that means on a medical bill for $100, the policy pays $70 and you pay $30. If your plan has a $5,000 out-of-pocket maximum, the plan will pay 100% of eligible expenses once you've met that maximum. Short term plans also have what is called a lifetime maximum benefit. That's the maximum total dollar amount the plan will pay per person. Here are a few other things to consider. In most cases, it's best to use in-network providers. A United Healthcare Choice or Choice Plus network provider, offers significant discounts for medical services. This network gives you access to more than 1.3 million physicians and other healthcare professionals and more than 6,000 hospitals and other facilities across the United States. To see if your doctor is in-network for a short term medical plan you're considering, go to uhone.com and look up providers by selecting the find a doctor link. If you still need coverage after your plan is over, you may be eligible to apply for another short term plan.

If so, be aware that medical treatment for a condition covered on one plan might be considered a preexisting condition on the next short term plan and might not be covered. Also, different states have different rules for short term plans, so it's best to read up on the rules where you live. But no matter where you are, short term plans do offer flexible and budget friendly solutions to help you bridge those gaps in your health care coverage.