It is almost impossible to afford going to the doctor or the hospital without having some form of health insurance to help you pay the bills. However there are certain times in your life where you may find yourself without any health insurance. These times can be very scary times, because as Murphy's Law states, if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. You should not take your health lightly by thinking that you can make it for a short period of time without having health insurance. If you have just graduated college, been removed from your parent's health insurance, changed jobs, or if you are waiting for group coverage to start, then you should probably start looking for short term health insurance coverage to fill the gap.

If you are a child, then you can remain on your parent's health insurance until you graduate from high school. You can extend this coverage if you are a full-time college student, but after graduating college then you are removed from your parent's coverage. If you change jobs, then you might have to wait a full year at your new job before you can get health insurance coverage. Sometimes you can negotiate health insurance coverage as soon as you start a new job, but most health insurance companies will require that you go through a probationary period before their coverage starts. In any of these cases you should get short term health insurance coverage to fill the void.

Short term health insurance is health insurance that will cover an individual or a family for a time period of one month to one year. Some companies that offer short term health insurance will allow you to change your coverage to one of their standard plans if you need to extend your coverage over one year. The coverage of short term health insurance is not as comprehensive as a regular health insurance plan, because it is designed to protect against accidents and unforeseen illnesses. This usually allows the plan to be more affordable than regular health insurance which is another good reason to get short term health insurance to fill any gaps in your normal health insurance.