Short-term health insurance is a low-cost alternative to a standard health insurance plan. If you are fairly young, and in good physical condition, you may want to consider getting short-term health insurance as opposed to a more extensive health insurance plan. With many short-term health insurance plans, the monthly premium you owe to the company is quite low — typically, between $30 and $60 US Dollars (USD), rather than the hundreds you would pay with a standard plan.

However, with short-term health insurance, you are not eligible for many of the benefits that you receive with a standard plan. You must pay full fees for all non-emergency doctor's visits and elective surgical procedures, rather than having such visits fully or partially covered by your health care network. Costs for all prescription drugs and ob-gyn visits are not covered by short-term health insurance, either. Costs related to maternity and delivery are not covered by short-term health insurance plans either, though you may be eligible for coverage from other sources.

If you do have a serious medical emergency, your short-term health insurance provider will compensate you up to a certain amount — usually no less than $100,000 USD — after you have paid the deductible, which can range from $1,000 to $10,000 USD or more. Typically, the lower the deductible, the higher your monthly premium will be.

Most short-term health insurance plans have a cap of six months or one year. However, once this period of time has expired, you are free to sign up with a different short-term health insurance provider. You should be able to find a comprehensive list of providers on a web site that compares health insurance plans.

Short-term health insurance is not for everyone. If you have medical problems, and need to regularly purchase expensive prescription drugs, you should probably sign up with a standard health care provider who will help you cover these bills. However, if you do not have access to health insurance through a job and are looking for a reasonably-priced option that will ensure that you are covered in case of a serious emergency, short-term health insurance may be the best way to go.