How much does temporary health insurance cost?
Reader question:
How much does temporary health insurance cost?
Jack
Great question.
The main reason that a lot of people choose to take out a short term health insurance policy is because it is so cheap. The reason it so cheap is because, well, it is short term and its coverage is limited. It does not cover things like pre-existing conditions and preventive care, so they tend to take on people who do not need those things and that lowers the premium payments for everyone. Most people, then, who have temporary health insurance are healthy and loyal as they only have to have the policy for twelve months. That’s a pretty risk free insured group, and without risk and with very few health insurance claims, costs are less.
If you are married and have two kids and live in Chicago, for example, let’s look at your case. You could be paying as little as three hundred dollars every month for the whole family to get one million dollars of temporary health insurance coverage with a one thousand dollar deductible. If you don’t make any claims, you’ll probably be able to renew your plan for three years until you find a long term health insurance coverage.
If you’re just a single guy and want the same thing, you’re looking at a mere seventy bucks a month.
Where the cost really comes in, though, is when you need to file a health insurance claim on your short term health insurance plan. If you have a one thousand dollar deductible, then your 100% coverage probably won’t kick in until five thousand dollars, and before that you will be co-paying.
A lot of companies that offer short term health insurance plans give you the option to pay either all at once or by month. If you pay all at once, you can get a discount.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
What does catastrophic health insurance cover?
Reader question:
What does catastrophic health insurance cover?
Lou
Good question.
Just because catastrophic health insurance seems very straight forward, don’t automatically assume that there is only one type of coverage available. In fact, depending on what company you go with and what type of catastrophic health insurance plan that you choose, the coverage varies and is not straight forward at all, so you should look very closely at youtr choices before making a sudden decision.
One company is the Blue Cross Shield in Florida, and it is a Florida health insurance company that has a catastrophic health insurance plan that it calls Essential. The deductible for Essential is around $250, and there is a maximum limit for expenses you pay of ten times that much. Once you have reached that limit, the company starts paying for your medical coverage until you reach the cap of one million dollars. It only covers things that involve your physical health, and hospital expenses such as emergencies and X-rays. Childbirth and drugs and check ups are not on that list.
If you got your catastrophic health insurance plan through Blue Cross Shield, then you could be paying a monthly premium as low as thirty dollars.
Another example is Golden Rule Insurance Company, the lowest deductible of which is $500 and the highest is $5,000. It covers about the same things as the Florida health insurance company, and it also does not cover the same things as they do. For Golden Rule, though, obviously the deductible costs a bit more, but at the same time the lifetime cap is much more, topping out at three million dollars. The catastrophic health insurance plan offered by Golden Rule is called Basic Plan, and it does cover things like MRI and surgery.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.