Insurance World

The beginning of the new millennium will be remembered as one of the worst times for event organizers world-wide. A sequence of disastrous events caused hundreds of thousands tourists to cancel their holidays. Weddings, family events, children’s summer camps, and thousands of commercial events and conventions were cancelled. Hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, terror attacks caused not only direct vast damages but also collateral damage to millions of individuals and businesses.

The resulting financial damage is huge. Empty hotels, lost deposits, travel agencies with no income, airliners that fly almost empty, lost income to wholesalers, organizers and many individuals – and the list goes on. The estimated losses are stated in billions of dollars (according to the publications of the numerous insurance companies).

This scenario is familiar to the insurance industry: those companies who write Travel Insurance that includes a Cancellation Fees Clause; those who write Special Events with Cancellation Fees Clauses; and those insurance companies who write Political Coverage (many of which are state-owned organizations).

Although this scenario is well-known, the actual loss sustained by the insurance industry is by far lower than the actual loss sustained by the tourism industry, the canceling individuals and many others. The reason is Awareness.

In the past century the world witnessed many events, which should have caused people to understand the need to protect their investments. Although rates in the past decades have been quite reasonable, most prospective customers did not purchase any kind of protection. The saying, “It won’t happen to me,” led millions of travelers all around the world to refrain from purchasing travel insurance (or to ensure that their cover includes a Cancellation Clause), which resulted in somewhat higher premium rates, as the spread of risk was smaller than the potential. Most of those organizing events – private or commercial – ignored history, and smiled when nothing happened and the event was over. For those who saw the risk materialize, no smile could help.

The insurance market can only offer the products. It cannot purchase them instead of the at-risk customers. However, it is important to elevate the level of awareness in the general public, to ensure better protection to the public.

The big numbers look a bit remote from the individual whose story is the wedding reception of his son or daughter, and whose relatively small deposits for the reception hall and the caterers are now lost. An additional average expense of $100 could now save this money, and ensure his ability to celebrate the occasion at a later date.

The small stories are those that should alert you, the reader – personally or as an insurance broker or agent – to ensure that next time, you will not be caught without protection.

If you are between jobs or are awaiting another health insurance policy to come into effect you may find that you have a gap in your health insurance coverage. This period is a high risk as you are effectively uninsured when it comes to health insurance. So what are you to do in this interim period? Well one of the best options in such situations is to consider taking out a short-term health insurance policy. This will cover you for a limited or fixed term.

Usually, short-term health insurance policies last for periods of less than six months. There are policies that will cover you for up to twelve months also however. If you need coverage for periods longer than this, you should probably be considering standard individual or family health insurance plans.

Application is Simple

One of the benefits of short-term health insurance is that the application process is somewhat more straightforward. These policies are really designed to cover unforeseen accidents and other emergency situations and are not recommended for comprehensive health protection. They will therefore generally not cover such advanced features as preventive treatments, physical and diagnostic tests, immunizations, dental and vision expenses which you should try to avoid for the period under which you are covered by the short term plan.

The main concern, and something you should be aware of if you are considering a short term plan is that they will make you ineligible for guaranteed issue health plans. These plans are most commonly referred to as HIPAA plans. They can be very expensive and are used in cases where the insured has existing medical conditions, which would otherwise make it very difficult for you to obtain health insurance. If you think you will need eligibility for a HIPAA plan, you should not purchase short-term health insurance. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA, and state health insurance rights are important protections and you should seek advice from a benefits advisor in these regards.

Are you covered?

Short-term health insurance plans will not cover existing medical conditions. While the exact definition depends on your circumstances and on state laws, what this means is that if you have been diagnosed in the last three to five years or have been receiving treatment for a condition, it will be a pre-existing condition and you will not get coverage for it under your short term plan. Therefore, if this applies to you, it is recommended that you extend your current comprehensive policy rather than switch to a short-term plan.