The Colorado Division of Insurance effectively regulated short term plans out of Colorado on April 1. Here is their press release: Updated regulation to govern short-term health plans in Colorado.
Are there other coverage options available? It turns out there are and you can read about this in this article – If I can’t buy a short-term plan and I don’t have a qualifying event, what are my coverage options? | healthinsurance.org
These options, Indemnity (fixed benefit) and Health Care Sharing Ministry (NOT INSURANCE) plans can medically underwrite and will not cover pre-existing conditions for some period of time, in most cases at least a year. So they are not a solution for everyone.
Also, in my opinion the article gives short shrift to some indemnity plans. For example, one company has a series of indemnity plans and true enough, it does pay a fixed benefit for hospital stays per day. However, unlike the examples described in the article, the benefit is $5000 per day with a unlimited number of days. The plan also has an ICU benefit of an ADDITIONAL $10,000 per day, although that benefit is limited to 31 days.
If you would like to review either the Indemnity or HCSM plans, call us at 303.495.3045.