Renewable health insurance

A: The term "renewable" has a specific legal definition with regard to a health insurance policy. It means that the term of coverage under an insurance policy can be extended at the option of the policyholder, for as long as the policyholder wishes, simply by paying the premium. The insurance company cannot cancel the coverage unless permission to do so is granted by the state insurance department for even treatment on every similar insurance policy in the state. The insurance company also can not raise the premium so high on individual policies that policyholders are forced to drop the coverage. By definition, short term medical insurance is not renewable. Every policy has a specified ending date. The longest short term policies can be renewed for 36 months but 6 or 12 months is much more common. The laws of the state of Mississippi (and most other states) allow a policyholder to extend short term medical insurance coverage indefinitely by taking out a number of different consecutive policies. Some, but not all, short term medical insurance policies allow this. When extension of coverage through re-application is not possible then it is necessary to change insurance companies from one short term medical plan to another brand. (Sometimes one insurance company issues health insurance under two or more different brand names). Celtic Insurance allows only 12 months of coverage under short term medical insurance. Other companies at FreedomBenefits.net allow unlimited total length of coverage. In general, if you need insurance for a year or less then use a short term policy (or a combination of 2 short term policies). If you know that you need coverage for more than a year, use a long term policy. Renewable health insurance costs about twice as much as otherwise comparable short term health insurance, so only go this route if it is necessary.