Where to find good short term health insurance

[AnonyRN]

I am about to accept a new position, and the health insurance benefits at the new place do not kick in right away. I need to find a short term policy to cover me for about 6 weeks. I have searched ehealthinsurance.com, but the policies are expensive and are from companies I've never heard of (so I wonder how good they would actually be if I needed to use them).

I am single w/ no dependents, and just need a plan that would cover me for a catastrophy. Also, at my current place of employment, it would be too expensive to COBRA the insurance I currently have. Can anyone recommend a good company to go with? Thanks!

[Susan H.]

When I was in a similar situation, I bought a policy through Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. I paid about $125 a month for fairly good coverage. Depends on what state your are in, but you might want to check them out.

[SnowStar4]

I go through ehealthinsurance and have a Blue Cross young adult policy for about $50 a month. the deductible is kind of high but since it is temporary I would go cheap and wait for your good insurance to kick in for regular appts.

This is what I used through school and had no problems. Can't wait until my real insurance kicks in next month though.

[oregonmom]

I would just Cobra your last plan because by the time you get an approval on a new policy you wouldn't be needing it for long. You can also forgo the insurance and if a catastrophy does happen you can back pay your COBRA and you are covered. Little known secret, you can do this for as long as your COBRA is available which is like 6 months. A family member is an insurance agent and told me about this when I was between jobs.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

Cobra to me was expensive. Depends on the contract of course. I recommend calling an independent insurance agent (someone whose phone is not listed under the insurance company name). They generally have several choices.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

You can also forgo the insurance and if a catastrophy does happen you can back pay your COBRA and you are covered. Little known secret, you can do this for as long as your COBRA is available which is like 6 months. A family member is an insurance agent and told me about this when I was between jobs.

Do not forego insurance coverage. You might jeopardize your new coverage, once you are able to join. Any pre-existing conditions can be excluded from your new coverage if there has been a lapse in coverage.

[amarilla, RN]

Do not forego insurance coverage. You might jeopardize your new coverage, once you are able to join. Any pre-existing conditions can be excluded from your new coverage if there has been a lapse in coverage.

Further to this - many COBRA policy coverages include wording stipulating a 30 day (current month) grace period for payment. It is understood that if you do not pay for the monthly coverage by the start of the next month, your coverage can be canceled effective the previous month and will not be backdated.

I was also a licensed insurance broker for a number of years, and will encourage the OP (and anyone else) not to try to backdate coverage to cover a claim that happened while you are uninsured. Doing this knowingly can be considered fraudulent, can void your policy entirely and leave you liable for all monies paid out on your behalf...and then some.

When you leave a job, you can elect to take COBRA or not within the window given in your benefits letter (usually 60 days.) If you do not elect to accept benefits, you cannot decide six months later to change your mind. Once that window passes, it has passed. If you do elect to take it and then do not pay within your grace period, you will be canceled. If you are canceled for non-payment, you may not be reinstated, and with many private companies acting as benefit administrators, there may not be an appeals process as long as they have given the minimum 30 day grace.

Be careful and do the right thing.