About Interim Health Insurance Coverage

Interim health insurance, also known as short-term coverage, is temporary health insurance. These policies are commonly obtained by people in between jobs, in school or until a more permanent policy starts. Interim health insurance coverage offers the policyholder and his family peace of mind that their health insurance needs can continuously be met for a period of time they're without a more permanent health insurance policy.

Coverage Benefits

• Interim health insurance policies afford most of the basic benefits as a conventional policy provides. Since short-term policies are mostly fee-for-service plans, they don't cover preventive, dental or optical care. For the most part, these plans do cover hospital care, prescription drugs, lab and X-rays and some other additional services.

Coverage Period

• Interim health insurance policies usually provide coverage for as much as one year, but some insurance policies restrict plan coverage to six months.

Plans

• Interim policies are available as individual and family plans.

Costs

• Premiums for interim health insurance policies are generally less than what you'd pay for a conventional plan. In fact, the monthly premium is usually less than $100, as of 2010. However, these plans tend to have high deductibles and co-payments ranging from 20 percent to 50 percent for covered services at the time they're delivered.

Limitations

• Insurance providers can deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, so it may not be the best option for everyone. In addition, these policies aren't typically renewable. This means that once the term of the coverage has elapsed, a person either goes without coverage or must purchase a conventional policy.

Purchasing Coverage

• It's fairly easy to purchase an interim health insurance policy. There are a number of online insurance companies and brokers selling these plans. Plus, applications can usually be completed online with approval given in as little 24 hours.