Type "health insurance" into any search bar and the first ads you see probably aren't Blue Cross or Aetna.
They're lead-generation sites pushing short-term health plans with monthly premiums that look like a car payment instead of a mortgage.
Short-term plans were designed as a temporary bridge after a job loss or before Medicare kicks in.
Under federal rules loosened in 2018, they can now run just under 12 months and be renewed up to 36 months in many states.
That extended runway is exactly why they've quietly become a permanent product for people who can't stomach ACA marketplace prices.
An ACA-compliant plan must cover pre-existing conditions, prescription drugs, maternity care, mental health, and hospitalization with no annual or lifetime caps.
Short-term plans face none of those requirements.
Insurers can reject you for a past diagnosis, charge more because of your age or gender, exclude entire categories of care, and cap how much they'll pay out per year — sometimes at $250,000 or less.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau doesn't regulate these products, but state insurance departments do, and enforcement varies wildly.
In states like California, New York, and Massachusetts, short-term plans are heavily restricted or banned outright.
In others, a 60-year-old with high blood pressure can buy one online in ten minutes with no medical exam.
An ACA plan for a 60-year-old couple in a mid-tier "silver" tier can run $2,000 or more per month before subsidies.
A short-term plan for the same couple might quote $400.
But that difference isn't a discount — it's the cost of everything the plan doesn't pay for.
A single appendectomy or a cancer diagnosis can blow past the annual cap, leaving you responsible for the rest.
You buy a plan, use it for a few months, and develop a condition.
When it's time to renew, the insurer can decline you or exclude the new diagnosis as pre-existing.
You're now older, sicker, and shopping in a market where the affordable option just disappeared.
Lead brokers who earn commissions whether or not the plan fits your life.
Affiliate marketers who rank pages with headlines like "Obamacare Is Dead — See New Plans." And insurers who collect premiums during the healthy months and terminate coverage when claims get expensive.
If you're between jobs or waiting on Medicare, a short-term plan can be a genuine stopgap for catastrophic-only coverage.
But read the exclusions page, not the brochure.
Check whether your doctors and hospitals are in-network, whether prescriptions are covered at all, and what the annual maximum is.
Then compare it honestly to a subsidized ACA plan — many people qualify for more help than they assume.
The closing thought: cheap insurance is only cheap until you need it.
A $400 premium that leaves you exposed to a $200,000 hospital bill isn't a deal — it's a bet you probably can't afford to lose.
Final Thoughts
Read the fine print, or pay someone who will read it for you.