You may know Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans as major medical, comprehensive coverage, or even “Obamacare,” but whatever you call them, these plans meet all the requirements of the ACA and are typically the most comprehensive on the market. If you have a chronic illness or face a medical emergency, these plans can help prevent staggering expenses.

ACA plans provide benefits for a broad range of health care services, both inpatient and outpatient, and can save you money on routine doctor visits, prescription drugs, preventative care, hospital stays, and more. These plans are available to almost everyone, and you can’t be denied based on preexisting conditions.

If you can't afford an Affordable Care Act (ACA) plan or have missed the cutoff to apply, you may want to consider a short-term plan. Compared to ACA plans, short-term health insurance typically provides much less coverage and does not help you avoid any state tax penalties. But short-term plans do accept applications year-round, and they can help offset costs if you have a medical emergency unrelated to a preexisting condition.

Short-term plans do not meet the requirements of the ACA and may not cover all — or any — of your medical needs, so you’ll want to read the plan details carefully before applying. Also worth noting that purchasing short-term health insurance may make you ineligible for other health insurance including ACA plans and COBRA.

Also known as fee-for-service plans, medical indemnity health insurance pays you a fixed amount for services such as $50 for a doctor visit. In this example, if you visit the doctor, the plan will give you $50, regardless of the bill for the actual visit.

When combined with other insurance, medical indemnity plans can help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses like copays and coinsurance. You can also purchase a medical indemnity plan as your only insurance or as part of an insurance package, but as with short-term health insurance, medical indemnity plans do not meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and will not help you avoid any state tax penalties. Indemnity plans also typically do not cover preexisting conditions and may include per-incident, yearly, and/or lifetime benefit limits.

Medical indemnity plans are not right for everyone, but if you want help covering medical costs and expenses, they may be worth a second look.