Quoted from JJHLH:

Correct. The short-term plans most likely won’t cover pre-existing conditions and aren’t required to cover all of the essential mandatory benefits under ACA. That is why they can be offered for such a low price. But most do provide an out-of-pocket maximum, which is very important to me as I’m frequently traveling out-of-state and hence will be out-of-network.
I researched this today and found plans costing 20% of what an ACA bronze plan costs. That is a huge savings. And more plans will almost certainly come to market before the end of the year since the new rules were just announced and companies need time to adjust to them.
These short-term plans make sense if you aren’t taking costly medications, don’t have serious pre-existing conditions, but want a low-cost no-frills plan that will help guard against catastrophe. In my view that’s perhaps the true role for insurance, as opposed to paying for routine medical expenses.
I would recommend anybody who is considering this option to research it thoroughly, as it isn’t for everybody, but could be a very good option for some.

Quoted from JJHLH:

Here is the link I used with eHealthinsurance.com. The lowest cost short-term plan in Texas for someone like me is $103.17 a month. There are a couple others priced at $150/month. Two of these are only good for 3 months, which was the prior limit under law before the recent regulatory change. One of these plans is good for a year so it must have just come out and reflects the new regulations. The broker I spoke with today suggested waiting until December to sign up since there should be even more options then.
https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ifp-client/quote-st.html?abResult=B&skipQLEtoST=false&adobe_mc_ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ehealthinsurance.com%2Fehi%2Fst%2Fshort-term-census%3FstSegmentSMBFlow%3DB%26adobe_mc_ref%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.ehealthinsurance.com%252Fshort-term-health-insurance%26adobe_mc_sdid%3DSDID%253D790E497BD2DBD0D5-4FE4FFF7C9F0D3D1%257CMCORGID%253DA821776A5245B31A0A490D44%252540AdobeOrg%257CTS%253D1534541619&adobe_mc_sdid=SDID%3D06521E6A6228F47D-2092CB2E1419122F%7CMCORGID%3DA821776A5245B31A0A490D44%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1534541640
Here is a link showing the cost of ACA bronze plans for comparison. Texas only has one insurance company in the market for this group, BCBS Texas, so there is no competition. The other companies left the market since it was unprofitable. The lowest cost bronze plan is $598/month.
https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ifp-client/quotepage.html