If you have just left college you might find that you are not now covered under your family care health insurance plan and will need to find some sort of cover until you start work and fall within an employer’s health care plan. Similarly, if you have recently started a new job, you could find that you are required to work for several weeks before being eligible for membership of his health care plan. These are only two of the variety of reasons that lead to a need for short term health care insurance.

So what exactly is short term health insurance coverage?

As its name suggests, it is simply health insurance coverage that provides health cover for a short period of time to give you the opportunity to keep cover while you are moving from one permanent health insurance plan to another. Cover is normally given for anywhere from a month to a year, although a lot of companies nowadays limit policies to a maximum of six months. In many cases insurance companies also understand that it can be hard to know just how long you will need short term cover and thus are frequently flexible in allowing you to extend your cover past the original expiry date when needed.

Temporary health insurance plans generally provide similar cover to that seen on permanent policies although there are some extremely important differences.

Policies are normally strictly indemnity plans and will not provide cover for preventative treatments, like check-ups, and will also exclude such things as optical and dental treatment. Work-related injury and illness and pre-existing health conditions are also often excluded.

Your temporary health insurance policy will normally give you cover for emergency medical treatment, prescription medicines, hospital and intensive care treatment, x-rays, ambulance care and, in some cases, in-home medical treatment.

So, how can you arrange temporary health coverage?

You must begin by calculating how many weeks or months you need the coverage for and precisely when you want it to start. You then need to locate an agent who specializes in temporary health cover.

Study any policies offered carefully and pay close attention to the exclusion clauses and do not be shy when it comes to asking questions about anything which concerns you. Check through your application form and ensure that all of your personal details are correct before you sign anything. Additionally, remember to hold onto a copy of all the paperwork for your own files.

The cost of a short term health insurance plan will vary according to the type of coverage that you opt for. However, it is possible to keep the cost down by choosing to have a high deductible added to the plan (this is the sum of money which you must pay towards your health care before your plan begins to pay). For instance, you could pick a 50/50 co-insurance option (the division of the payment for every bill after your deductible has been met) instead of the more usual 80/20 ratio.

Additionally, remember that there are one or two extras that you might want to consider depending on your particular circumstances. For instance, with the high and rising cost of prescription medicines, you could be better off paying for the coverage instead of leaving it off.

Without doubt the most important thing is to remember to read through any cheap health insurance plan carefully and ensure that you are being offered the coverage which you want and which you will be paying for.