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Learn about short-term health insurance in Florida.
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Availability of short-term health insurance in Florida
In Florida, federal regulations limit initial duration of temporary health insurance plans to 364 days; the limit will change to three months starting in September 2024
In Florida, federal regulations regarding short-term health insurance apply. This means consumers can buy short-term health insurance plans – and can get policies with initial terms up to 364 days with the option to renew for a total duration up to 36 months.
However, those federal limits will change in 2024 under new Biden administration rules for short-term health plans. Short-term plans issued or sold on or after September 1, 2024 will be limited to initial terms of no more than three months. If the policy is renewable, total duration will be limited to no more than four months.
(Insurers can impose shorter limits on terms and durations if they choose to do so, and are not required to make their plans renewable.)
As of 2024, at least five insurers are selling short-term health insurance plans in Florida.
Frequently asked questions about short-term health insurance in Florida
Is short-term health insurance available for purchase in Florida?
Yes. As of 2024, there are at least five insurers offering short-term health insurance in Florida.
Which short-term plan durations are permitted under Florida rules?
There are no state-specific limitations on the allowable duration of short-term health insurance in Florida, so the state defaults to the federal regulations. Florida does not consider short-term health plans to be individual health insurance, which is the same as the federal approach. (This is why short-term plans are exempt from ACA regulation.)
Because Florida does not limit short-term plans, the federal government’s regulations apply in the state. So for policies issued on or before August 31, 2024, insurers can offer short-term plans with initial terms of up to 364 days and the option to renew for a total duration of up to 36 months.
Insurers are allowed to cap their short-term plans at shorter durations, however, and prohibit renewal if they choose to do so.
When the Biden administration’s rule changes start to apply in September 2024, the total allowable duration of new short-term health plans will drop to four months, including renewals (initial terms will be capped at three months).
Who can buy short-term health insurance in Florida?
Short-term health insurance plans in Florida can be purchased by Floridians who can meet the underwriting guidelines used by insurers.
In general, people can qualify for short-term health plans if they’re under 65 years old and don’t have a medical condition that will result in a declined application.1 But the specific requirements vary from one insurance company to another.
Most short-term health insurance plans exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions, and they often use post-claims underwriting (meaning that they will go back through a person’s medical records after a claim is filed, to make sure it isn’t related to a pre-existing medical condition).2
Most short-term health plans exclude coverage for some of the ACA’s essential health benefits. Maternity care, prescription drugs, and mental health care are among the most often excluded.1 And the plans also tend to impose dollar limits on the coverage they provide.
So it’s important to carefully read all of the details before purchasing a short-term policy, to make sure that you understand the limitations of the plan.
When should I consider buying short-term health insurance in Florida?
Whether you live in Miami or in the suburbs outside Tampa, there may be times when short-term health insurance is your only realistic option for coverage. Common situations:
- You missed open enrollment for ACA-compliant individual market coverage (ie, Obamacare) or your employer’s health plan, and do not qualify for a special enrollment period.
- You’re newly employed but the business has a waiting period of up to three months before you can enroll in your employer’s health plan, and you’re not eligible for a special enrollment period that would allow you to buy an ACA-compliant plan for that time.
- You’ll soon be enrolled in Medicare, but have no other health insurance options in the meantime.
- You’ve already enrolled in an ACA-complaint plan but have to wait up to several weeks before the insurance coverage takes effect (if you enroll early in the open enrollment period, for example, you’ll wait up to two months before your coverage takes effect).
- You’re not eligible for Medicaid or a premium subsidy in the exchange. In that case, the full-price monthly premiums for an ACA-compliant plan might simply be too costly. (Note that the American Rescue Plan has made subsidies larger and more widely available; if you checked in the past and weren’t subsidy-eligible, be sure you check again!)
People who are ineligible for premium subsidies include:
- People caught in the coverage gap that exists because Florida has refused to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid eligibility (here are some strategies for avoiding the coverage gap).
- People who cannot enroll in a plan through the exchange because they are not lawfully present in the United States. (Lawfully present immigrants can enroll through the exchange and can receive premium subsidies, but people who are not lawfully present cannot do either.)
How has Florida historically regulated short-term health insurance?
Until October 2, 2018, federal regulations limited short-term health insurance plans to no more than three months in duration, and prohibited renewals. From that point until August 2024, federal regulations allowed for much longer short-term plans unless a state imposes its own restrictions. For plans issued or sold starting in September 2024, new federal rules will apply, limiting initial terms to no more than three months. If the plan is renewable, total duration must be capped at no more than four months.
Before June 2019, Florida had a law that limited pre-existing condition exclusions on plans with terms of longer than six months. But since then, Florida has not limited the duration of plans beyond the federal rules.
Florida Statute 627.6045 states that health plans cannot exclude pre-existing conditions for more than 24 months, and cannot look back more than 24 months to determine whether an applicant has pre-existing conditions. The law also says that a person who has prior continuous coverage (that’s at least as robust as the new coverage) during the 24 previous months is not subject to pre-existing condition exclusions. But prior to June 2019, it specifically exempted nonrenewable short-term plans with terms of no more than six months.
So if a short-term plan was nonrenewable and lasted no more than six months, the insurer could set its own rules regarding pre-existing conditions. But if the plan was renewable and/or had a term of more than six months, the insurer could only look at up to 24 months of medical history to determine whether pre-existing condition exclusions will apply, and could not impose pre-existing condition exclusions at all if the person had continuous creditable coverage during that time.
But in June 2019, Florida enacted S.322, which eliminated the requirement that the health plan be nonrenewable and last less than six months to be exempt from Florida’s pre-existing condition rules. Florida’s law now simply says that it doesn’t apply to short-term health insurance in Florida as long as the plan discloses to the applicant that the policy will not cover pre-existing conditions and will not count as qualifying previous coverage if and when the person applies for a new policy under Florida’s pre-existing condition protection rules.
As of 2024, there were a variety of plans available in Florida with total durations, including renewals, of up to 36 months. Starting in September 2024, however, new short-term policies will be capped at no more than four months, including renewals.
Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org.
Footnotes
- ”ACA Open Enrollment: For Consumers Considering Short-Term Policies” KFF.org. Oct. 25, 2019 ⤶ ⤶
- ”Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurance and Independent, Noncoordinated Excepted Benefits Coverage” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. April 3, 2024 ⤶