California health insurance - Short term health insurance - 2018 Short term health insurance
Best Short Term Health Insurance for 2018
UPDATE: California banned all short term health insurance plans eff 9/1/2018.
In California we now only have OneShare health sharing InterimCare plans.
You can
quote OneShare short term plans here.
Information below is for States that still have short term health carrier options.
The job market is finally heating up in 2018.
About time.
A big article came out recently on how workers are finally feeling confident enough to...
Quit their jobs!
What a difference a decade makes.
With all this new found trailblazing comes something else.
Breaks in health insurance.
Many people still get their health insurance through employers.
When you leave an employer, your coverage generally goes with it.
In 2018, there's a LOT of this going on.
Many new employers have waiting periods for their coverage.
How do we address this break in coverage in 2018.
Short term health insurance has seen a huge uptick in 2018.
You can quickly quote and enroll in it here:
Otherwise, let's get to everyone's big question:
- Quick review of 2018 short term health coverage
- How is short term different from Cobra in 2018
- How is short term different from Obamacare in 2018
- What carriers offer short term health insurance in 2018
- What is the best short term health insurance in 2018
- Uses of short term health in 2018
- 2018 short term health reviews
- How to quote 2018 short term health rates
- How to enroll in 2018 short term health plans
- Does 2018 short term health make sense
Let's get started.
Before you know it, we'll have to jump to the 2019 short term health review.
Quick review of 2018 short term health coverage
We've had short term health plans for a long time.
Decades actually.
So...what's different under the hood in 2018?
Lots!
The core product is relatively the same.
It's more catastrophic coverage to cover short periods of time.
There are two big differences for 2018 though:
- Carriers available
- Length of time we can get coverage for
We'll cover both of these in-depth but here's the skinny of it.
We really only have two legitimate short term health carriers in 2018:
- IHC (partners with BCBS)
- UnitedOne (part of United health)
They're not available everywhere.
California banned short term health insurance plans eff 9/1/2018 so we only have OneShare health sharing plans which you can quote here.
Read below on the companies available in 2018.
Secondly, it's the time we're allowed.
In his final year of office, Obama passed an executive action that restricted short term health plans to 3 months.
We'll touch base on this below as well and see how the carriers have partially navigated around that restriction.
Let's start with that piece first.
How long can we get short term coverage for in 2018
This is one of the big changes in 2018.
We used to be able to get short term health plans for 364 days (just shy of one year).
That changed in 2015.
We were then limited to a 3 months maximum.
- 30 days x 3.
- 30 days is the minimum amount of short term you can get in 2018.
- You can cancel month to month essentially.
- 90 days was the max but we now have a new option in 2018.
Both IHC and UnitedOne have rolled out their 2 x 3 options.
This essentially means we can apply for 2 consecutive blocks of 90 days (3 months).
We can basically stack them with one application.
Remember, you can still cancel month to month.
Every 30 days.
Even if you apply for the 2 x 3 (up to 180 days), you cancel during any 30 day block.
We just need to notify the carrier before the next 30 day block starts by email.
There's talk that Congress might expand short term back to 364 days but we don't have that yet.
You'll see the option when it's available here:
Is there a 2018 penalty for having short term health plans
Great question.
Officially, we still have the tax penalty for not having health insurance in 2018.
Short term does not meet the requirements of the ACA law so there is a penalty.
But wait...we have a loop hole.
Built into the law, you're allowed one exemption up to 3 consecutive months.
That's where the original 2018 90 day restriction mentioned above comes from.
The 2018 tax penalty is pro-rated by month.
If we have short term for a 90 day block between other ACA health coverage (say through an employer), we can request the exemption.
Even if we have no ACA plans (too expensive, etc) and get blocks of short term, we can still request the 90 day exemption.
We're looking a 9/12ths of the penalty in that case.
We're happy to walk through how this works with you.
Just call us at 800-320-6269 or email us.
You can always quote the 2018 short term health plans here:
How is short term different from Cobra in 2018
We have an entire article on 2018 short term versus Cobra here but some quick points.
First Cobra:
- Cobra is continuation of employer coverage after you lose the group plan
- You generally have 60 days from last date of coverage to "opt in"
- The cost is usually higher - 10% higher than what the employer was paying
- Benefits tend to be richer and ACA compliant
- Deductibles/etc generally continue from group plan
- You must pay the premium by deadlines or it cancels for good
- You generally have a minimum of 18 months
More info on Cobra here.
Now to contrast with short term health plans in 2018:
- More catastrophic in nature
- Tends to be less expensive for most people
- Will run out after 90 or 180 days (2018 rules)
- Used for short periods of time
- RX and office are subject to deductible if covered
One key take away.
If you take short term and miss your Cobra window, you can't go back once out of the election period
Short term generally works when we're pretty sure new coverage is around the bend.
For a lot of people, it's not even a question.
The Cobra is too expensive and they can't afford it.
Short term becomes the default issue.
Unless they're eligible for Obamacare or Covered California.
Let's look at that next.
How is short term different from Obamacare in 2018
This is the bigger decision.
We have an entire article on Obamacare or Covered California versus short term in 2018.
The net net...
If you have any of the following
- You are eligible for a tax credit
- Have existing health are needs and expenses
- Have a qualifying event that allows you to enroll
You should go with Obamacare.
Even if it's for a short period of time.
The tax credit will likely bring the cost down to what short term coverage or better.
The benefits will be more comprehensive.
You can still cancel month to month with Obamacare
Where we see people take short term is when they don't qualify for a tax credit or really just want to cover a short period of time till new coverage starts.
You can quote Obamacare or Covered California plans here (choose on-exchange)
You can also quote 2018 short term plans here.
We're happy to help you compare the two options.
There's no cost for our assistance at 800-320-6269 or by email.
What carriers offer short term health insurance in 2018
This is one area where things are different from prior years.
In 2018, we really only the two following legitimate temporary health insurance options:
- IHC (partnered with BCBS)
- UnitedOne (offered by United Health)
Some States such as California, New York, and New Jersey have banned short term health plans.
We now only have OneShare health sharing InterimCare plan.
You can quote
OneShare short term plans here.
There are other some plans out there which we go out of our way to avoid.
They'll have serious holes in coverage such as per day hospital caps on benefits.
Bad news.
Why have coverage at all!
The two above are the legitimate options for 2018 short term health.
One note...they're not available everywhere.
For example, California banned Short Term health insurance effective 9/1/2018
In California, we only have OneShare health sharing InterimCare plan.
You can quote
OneShare short term plans here.
What if you have the option of both?
What is the best short term health insurance in 2018
Luckily, the two short term plans are pretty comparable.
Short term is really designed to address more catastrophic issues and they both do this well.
The networks are also comparable in 2018 for both carriers.
It may be a simple as which one you have available in your state.
In many States, we only have one of the two short term carriers in 2018.
You can run your 2018 IHC short term quote here.
You can run your 2018 UnitedOne short term quote here.
You can run your 2018 OneShare short term quote here.
Both carriers offer add-on plans to the core short term coverage such as accidental health, critical illness, telemedicine, etc.
The system will automatically tell you if plans are available based on your income.
Uses of short term health in 2018
The common uses for short term in 2018 are the same as any year.
With one exception.
The basic needs are:
- Waiting period for new coverage to start
- Loss of Coverage
- Need quick turn-around
- Missed Obamacare open enrollment
- Can't afford standard health insurance
The big difference is the new restrictions on how long you can have short term.
Many people miss open enrollment or lose their coverage due to missing a payment.
They essentially want to get coverage till Jan 1st when new coverage can start.
At first, we only had 3 month blocks we could get.
You could get additional coverage but you would have to re-enroll (based on health).
Now in 2018, we can get 2 x 3 with either carrier.
Essentially up to 180 days (can still cancel month to month).
You can re-apply after that 180 days but subject to health.
Feel free to quote the new 2x 3 short term in 2018 here:
2018 short term health reviews
We're one of the biggest agents for short term health insurance in 2018.
We do a lot of it!
Both carrier are pretty comparable in terms of the day to day process.
Apples and apples, UnitedOne is probably a little stronger but still very comparable.
Some people read online reviews from the carriers which tend to be questionably negative.
We're not surprised.
Here's the deal...
When you're getting short term coverage, you're basically looking to cover a fixed period of time.
Most people will hopefully not need the coverage at all.
Of those that do, most are processed and they're on their way.
The vast majority of clients never have an issue and never really think about it.
It's not like a restaurant where you definitely have an opinion...good or bad.
This tends to skew the online reviews to the far negative side.
Our experience after enrolling 1000's of short term policies?
- We only deal with legitimate carriers.
- We only deal with real health plans
The results are as expected.
A percentage of our clients will have pretty big claims (ACL tears, broken arms, accidents, etc) and we haven't had any issues with the claims side on these.
It's remarkably smooth considering the sheer volume of 2018 short term we write.
How to quote 2018 short term health rates
It's easy to quote 2018 short term coverage by carrier:
UnitedOne (offered by United Health) here
OneShare short term health sharing here
Everything's online now.
The plans are simple to quote in that you're basically choosing a deductible and co-insurance amount.
We can help with any questions at 800-320-6269 or by email.
There's no cost for our assistance.
How to enroll in 2018 short term health plans
Enrollment is also easy and online.
The online application is available right through the quote here:
UnitedOne (offered by United Health) here
OneShare short term health sharing here
Short term enrollment for 2018 plans is simplified.
Just a few health questions.
If we can answer yes, we generally get approved.
Does 2018 short term health make sense
That's the big question.
It depends on a person's situation, but for many people, it does.
2018 brought some changes to the market especially on how long we're able to have short term but the core needs are the same.
- Interim periods of coverage
- Unable to enroll in other plans
- Unable to afford other plans
- Need immediate health coverage
Those are the main uses of it in 2018.
We expect much of the same in 2019 with maybe an explanation on how long we can keep short term.
Longer short term basically.
We'll update the information for 2019 as we get there.
Always new changes in health insurance!
Call 800-320-6269 for any questions on which option is best for your situation. Our services are free to you!
You can run your 2018 Short term health plan Quote here to view rates and plans side by side from the major carriers...Free.