Open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on www.healthcare.gov continues until December 15, but some consumers are buying short-term policies on other sites that don’t provide the coverage they need. And they may not know it. The Trump administration and the Indiana legislature recently made it easier for insurers to sell these policies. Private insurance brokers increase their profits by steering consumers to low-coverage insurance.

These “short-term” health plans don’t cover pre-existing conditions, even if the consumer didn’t know about the condition. Short of breath a few times over the past year, but didn’t know you had heart disease? Your short-term policy can still be cancelled when you have a heart attack. And unlike ACA-compliant policies, these short-term plans generally don’t cover preventive care, prescription drugs, pregnancy, childbirth, or mental health issues. Buyers typically discover how little is covered when they fall ill. And insurers avoid paying for care. The only plans that cover all ACA requirements are on www.healthcare.gov.

We need accessible, affordable insurance for everyone. Until we get there, we need to read the fine print. An insurance policy that seems too good to be true probably is.

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