If you’re recently unemployed, you haven’t just lost a job; you’ve probably lost a whole lot of benefits with it, prime among them being medical insurance. In this situation, you do have a solution in the form of short term insurance, which can be purchased instead of the often costlier COBRA insurance.

COBRA insurance guarantees continuation of medical coverage for up to 18 months after a person loses his/her job. COBRA insurance, however, is more expensive than regular insurance, and the conditions for qualification are stringent. In this tough situation, short-term medical insurance can really help a family by providing much-needed medical coverage.

Short term medical insurance offers a load of benefits including physician visits in case of illness, hospitalization, and most medical care. That includes ambulance services, surgery, prescriptions, and diagnostic tests. Previously existing conditions, and anything considered routine care (teeth cleaning, eye check ups) are not covered under the plan.

Generally, temporary insurance plans are available for a month to a year, with easy renewal options. The ”renewal” itself may be considered a new policy, so that the insured is once again evaluated for eligibility and new premium rates.

It is important to remember that short term insurance cannot be an adequate long-term health insurance plan. It is primarily meant as coverage for temporary periods. Long term health insurance plans offer several critical benefits not often available to the short term health insurance customer: scheduled physician visits and maternity, for instance.

When getting back on a regular long-term health plan, short-term medical insurance can often be counted toward creditable coverage for group plans. Labeling an insurance plan as creditable coverage means that the plan counts as equivalent coverage when determining pre-existing conditions and effective continuous period of coverage. Short-term medical insurance plans are usually not considered creditable coverage for individual plans.

You can easily purchase short term health insurance online. Since the plan is temporary, you are not usually subjected to lengthy underwriting procedures.

If you are considering short term medical insurance, ensure that you want it as temporary insurance. It’s best if you are looking at purchasing short term medical insurance for six months or less. It also works well as an alternative to COBRA insurance, and can help you tide over uncertain periods in life.

Dan Miller often writes about short term insurance.