ACA subsidy estimator
Estimate your advance premium tax credit and what a benchmark plan might cost you each month.
Short-term medical
Short-term medical insurance solutions
Short-term medical is a stopgap, not a substitute. It can be the right answer for a genuinely short, defined gap. It is the wrong answer for most people most of the time, and an honest agent will tell you which one you are.
Book a call 435-292-8777Speak with a licensed insurance agent · TTY 711
Short-term plans are not ACA-compliant. That is not a technicality — it is the whole product. They can ask health questions and decline you, they can exclude anything they judge to be a pre-existing condition, and they typically do not cover maternity, mental health, or prescription drugs the way a Marketplace plan must. They are also not eligible for the premium tax credit.
Where they genuinely help is a narrow, defined gap: you have accepted a job and coverage starts in six weeks, you have missed Open Enrollment and do not qualify for a Special Enrollment Period, or you need something in place for a specific window while a permanent plan is arranged.
Before recommending one, Sarah checks the alternative first. A qualifying life event may open a Special Enrollment Period you did not know about. A subsidised Bronze or Silver Marketplace plan is frequently cheaper than the short-term plan once the tax credit is applied — people are often surprised by this. Short-term is what is left after those are ruled out, not the opening suggestion.
If short-term is the right call, the details matter: the term length available in Utah, whether it can be renewed, the deductible, the coinsurance, the coverage maximum, and precisely what the pre-existing condition exclusion means for your medical history. Sarah reads that language with you before you buy, not after a claim.
What's included
- An honest check of whether you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period first
- Subsidised Marketplace pricing compared against the short-term premium — it often wins
- Pre-existing condition exclusions read and explained against your actual history
- Term length, renewal and coverage maximums laid out plainly
- What is not covered stated up front: maternity, mental health, prescriptions, preventive care
- A plan for what happens when the short-term plan ends, agreed before it starts
Carriers we work with
Carriers we compare
ACA & health — Utah
- SelectHealth
- Molina Healthcare of Utah
- University of Utah Health Plans
- Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah
ACA & health — Arizona
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
- Ambetter from Arizona Complete Health
- Cigna HealthCare of Arizona, Inc.
- Oscar Health Plan
- UnitedHealthcare
Important: CUPS Insurance is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operating on behalf of HealthCare.gov, the Health Insurance Marketplace, or any federal or state government agency. Plan availability, premiums and advance premium tax credits are set by the carriers and the Marketplace.
Tools
Run the numbers first
Free calculators for this coverage. Instant results in your browser — estimates, not quotes.
ACA vs COBRA
Compare what COBRA would cost you against a subsidised Marketplace plan for the rest of the year.
SEP qualifier
Find out in about a minute whether a recent life event lets you enroll outside Open Enrollment.
Family glitch calculator
Your job offers health insurance, but covering the family costs a fortune. Check whether your spouse and children can get a subsidised Marketplace plan anyway.
FAQ
Short-term medical — common questions
Is short-term coverage cheaper than a Marketplace plan?
Often it is not, once the advance premium tax credit is applied. Because short-term plans are ineligible for the credit, a subsidised Silver plan can land below a short-term premium while covering far more. That comparison takes five minutes and is worth doing before you buy anything.
Does short-term medical cover pre-existing conditions?
Generally no. Short-term plans are medically underwritten and typically exclude conditions you already have. That is the central difference from an ACA plan, which cannot turn you down or exclude a condition.
If you have an ongoing condition, a short-term plan is usually the wrong tool regardless of the premium difference.
Is short-term medical the same as a Marketplace plan?
No, and it is not a substitute for one. Short-term plans are not required to cover the essential health benefits, can exclude pre-existing conditions, and do not qualify for premium tax credits.
They exist to bridge a defined gap — between jobs, waiting for an employer plan to start — not to replace comprehensive coverage.
How long can short-term coverage last?
Duration limits are set by federal rules and by the state, and they have changed more than once in recent years. Utah follows the federal limits in force at the time you apply.
Because those rules move, the honest answer is to confirm the current limit at the time you need the coverage rather than relying on what was true last year.
What does it cost to work with CUPS Insurance on Short-term medical?
Nothing. Carriers pay a commission when a plan is issued, and that commission is already built into the plan price whether you use an agent or not.
Buying the same plan on your own does not make it cheaper — it just means nobody checked your doctors and prescriptions first, and nobody picks up the phone in March when something goes wrong.
Does CUPS Insurance offer every plan available for Short-term medical?
No, and no agency does. We are independent, which means we compare across the carriers listed on this site rather than representing a single one — but that is not the same as offering every plan on the market.
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 8 organizations which offer 72 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.
Who will actually be helping me?
Sarah Wood Rodriquez, licensed since 2009 — over 17 years — and licensed in Utah, Arizona, Idaho. NPN 14943086.
The person who answers the phone is the person who reviews your plan. There is no call center and no handing you between departments.
How do I get started with Short-term medical?
Call Sarah, a licensed insurance agent, at 435-292-8777 (TTY 711) or book a call. The first conversation usually runs twenty to thirty minutes and there is nothing to sign.
Bring your prescription list and your doctors’ names — with those, the comparison can be a real one rather than a generic one.
Learn
Related guides
7 min read
Special Enrollment Periods: the life events that let you buy coverage now
Open Enrollment is not the only way in. If one of these happened in the last 60 days, you can probably enroll today — but the clock is already running.
8 min read
COBRA or a Marketplace plan? How to compare them properly
COBRA keeps the plan you know at a price that is often a shock. A subsidised Marketplace plan is frequently far cheaper. Here is how to run the comparison before your election deadline passes.
9 min read
Retiring before 65: how to bridge the gap to Medicare
Health insurance is the reason a lot of people work longer than they need to. It is a solvable problem, and the solution is mostly about how you manage income in the bridge years.
Grab a cup. Let's make insurance make sense.
A real conversation with a licensed agent who will check your doctors and prescriptions before you decide — and answer the phone all year after that.
Book a call with Sarah Call 435-292-8777 Speak with a licensed insurance agent · TTY 711
Office hours: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM · Ogden, Utah · NPN 14943086