Best Short-Term Health Insurance in Kentucky

As you search for how to get health insurance, you may have come across short-term health insurance options. Don’t let yet another health insurance option throw you for a loop! Here’s your guide to short-term health insurance in Kentucky. 

Best Short-Term Health Insurance Options in Kentucky

If you’re considering a short-term health insurance plan, then you’re going to want to know your options. Reviewing your options is especially important in the case of short-term insurance because its coverage is not held to ACA requirements. Here are some of the best health insurance options for Kentucky’s short-term health insurance.

1. Best Overall: Pivot Health

If you’re looking for flexible short-term health insurance options, Pivot Health could be the company for you. This is a health insurance provider that provides many of the well-liked services that come with more traditional health insurance plans like those offered through the Marketplace. 

A major benefit of Pivot Health’s short-term insurance plans is its video consultation services. This allows short-term insurance members to get quick access to doctors that can help with minor health issues such as a sprained ankle or the common cold. Another benefit of purchasing a short-term plan from Pivot Health is that it offers discounted vision services and prescriptions to its members.

2. Best for Comparing Plans: eHealth Insurance

Since comparing short-term health insurance plans is so important, you’ll benefit from having eHealth Insurance as an available resource. Using eHealth Insurance can give you access to the lowest prices for short-term health insurance plans at no additional fee. 

This is also a great resource to use if you’re looking to get a better understanding of your options as you’re doing your research. eHealth Insurance partners with almost 200 insurance companies, so it can offer you the tools you need to find exactly what you’re looking for. It also offers resources that help you understand short-term health insurance in comparison to other health insurance plans.

3. Best for No Networks: Everest Prime

Everest Prime is a short-term medical insurance plan that is available from Agile Health Insurance. It is an affordable option that allows you to visit any doctor without worrying about whether or not the doctor or office is in-network. 

Everest Prime short-term medical insurance also offers the flexibility of choosing the coverage that best fits your budget. You can choose between a $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000 deductible. With those deductibles, you can choose the coinsurance option that works best for you. In the Everest Prime plan brochure, you can also review specific covered services and benefit limits, including limits on how much the plan will pay for ambulance transportation.

4. Best for Specific Coverage Options: UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare offers a variety of short-term health insurance products for both individuals and whole families. This insurance company also makes it simple to review and compare the short-term health insurance plans that it offers.

Each of UnitedHealthcare’s short-term health insurance products offers its own set of coverage. One of the short-term insurance options is accident insurance. This insurance product is designed to help with unexpected bills from doctors and hospitals if you find yourself suffering from an accidental injury. It also offers a plan that can help pay for medical expenses like doctor visits, urgent care visits and surgical procedures. This fixed indemnity insurance option is available even if you have other types of health insurance.

5. Best for Flexibility: National General

National General makes it easy to find short-term coverage for both medical and accident insurance. To enroll in a plan, you need to complete a health questionnaire and choose from a variety of options that allows you to build the perfect medical plan. 

First, you’ll choose a deductible for your National General plan. Then you can review the options for your coinsurance for each level of service. You’ll also be able to choose the coverage term that you want for your plan.

Kentucky Short-Term Health Insurance Laws

• Kentucky allows short-term health insurance plans to have initial terms of up to 364 days. 
• In total, you can have short-term health insurance for up to 36 months, including renewals of your short-term health insurance plan.
• Kentucky does not have any state-specific regulations for short-term health insurance plans, so it defaults to federal insurance regulations.

What is Short-Term Health Insurance? 

Short-term health insurance is a type of affordable health insurance that you can rely on to give you temporary coverage. Like other types of health insurance, the exact coverage your short-term health insurance will provide depends on the insurance company and health insurance plan you choose. 

Most short-term health insurance plans can provide at least some coverage for:

• Doctor office visits
• Preventive care
• Visits to an urgent care center
• Emergency care
• Some prescriptions 

If you’re considering a short-term health insurance plan, it’s important to understand how it differs from other health insurance plans. Most health insurance plans are required to comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) guidelines. These guidelines set a standard of minimum areas of coverage that a health insurance plan must provide. Short-term health insurance plans do not need to follow or comply with ACA guidelines. It’s important to carefully review each short-term health insurance plan to see what types of coverage it offers because it is not required to offer any specific areas of coverage.

Even with these differences, short-term health insurance plans and other health insurance plans use the following terms that you should be familiar with:

Premium: The cost of your health insurance plan. Most health insurance plans come with a monthly premium that you must pay every month to keep your plan active.

Covered services: Covered services are anything that is included in your health insurance plan’s coverage. These services can include doctor visits, diagnostic testing and prescriptions. You can see what is included in your health insurance plan’s covered services by reviewing the plan’s documents.

Deductible: The amount of money that you have to pay for services that are covered by your health insurance plan. You must meet your plan’s deductible before your insurance company will pay for the costs of your covered services.

Copay: After you’ve met your plan’s deductible, the plan may require a copay. This is a set amount of money that you will need to pay to your doctor or other health care provider for covered services, many times at the visit.

Coinsurance: Similar to a copay, some insurance plans may require that you pay coinsurance after you’ve met your plan’s deductible. Coinsurance is a percentage of the total cost of your covered services that you must pay directly to your health care provider.

Who Needs Short-Term Health Insurance?

Anyone can get short-term health insurance. However, that doesn’t mean that is the best option for everyone. The availability of short-term insurance can be appealing, but its limited coverage can be a downside for many people. Still, short health insurance could be a good option for you if you find yourself unable to get other health insurance.

Some situations in which short-term health insurance can be a good option include:

• If you lost your employer-sponsored health insurance because you lost or left your job
• If you’re between jobs or waiting for your employer-sponsored health coverage at a new job to begin
• If you’re without health insurance and unable to enroll in other forms of health insurance because you do not have a qualifying life event outside of the Open Enrollment period
• If you’re waiting to enroll in Medicare once you become eligible for it

When Can You Enroll for Short-Term Health Insurance?

One of the most confusing things about health insurance is the enrollment periods. To enroll in a health insurance plan that is part of ACA, you must do it within a special period called Open Enrollment. To sign up for an ACA health insurance plan outside of Open Enrollment, you must have lost your health insurance due to certain qualifying events.

A benefit of short-term insurance is that since it is not part of ACA coverage, it does not require you to enroll during a specific period of time. In fact, you can apply for a short-term health insurance plan any time you need it.

Another benefit is that unlike ACA health insurance plans, short-term health insurance plan coverage can begin as soon as the day after you submit your application. If you want to sign up for a short-term insurance plan that will begin at a later date, you may be able to do this. Each insurance company has its own guidelines for when coverage will begin, so you can check with your insurer for the option that works best for you.

Where Can You Enroll for Short-Term Health Insurance? 

Finding short-term health insurance can be tricky because it is not available through Kentucky’s Health Insurance Marketplace. Instead, you’ll need to seek out insurance companies that offer short-term health insurance plans.

The easiest way to find insurance companies that offer short-term health insurance plans is to get a quote. This will allow you to compare the plans that each company offers and see what each plan may cost. Once you’ve identified the plan that you’d like to purchase, you can enroll by following the instructions found in your quote.

The Coverage You Need

If short-term health insurance is right for you, there’s no reason to delay in getting coverage. All you need to do is find the right insurance company and plan. Getting a quote is fast, free and the best way to start comparing your short-term options.