Getting Health Insurance Post Graduation as International Student

I (M25) was an international student in the United States and just recently completed my master’s degree. Throughout my time in the states I used the international student health insurance that was offered through my school which was pretty good and offered generally good terms.

In the last year and a half I have been suffering from severe chronic back pain and have been undergoing different treatments, most of which were largely covered by my insurance. My plan was to stay and work after graduation for a year and get health insurance through my employer.

However my pain has worsened significantly and I have undergone back surgery three weeks ago. The surgery was successful according to the surgeon but I’m having a strong inflammatory response and am currently in significant pain that brought me back to the hospital where I’m mostly treated with medications for pain until I can recover and return home on my feet.

During this time I’m not able to work at all and my visa is soon to be expired because I’m not able to work. In addition my health insurance will expire in a little over a week. I am unable to return to my home country because of the pain and the trip will be impossible for me with my levels of pain right now.

Therefore, my only option as far as I understand is to stay here in the states, change my visa status to visitor (which I’m working on) and continue treatment until I feel good enough to go back home.

I need advice with regards to which health insurance policies are most recommended for someone in my situation. I was looking into short-terms options but my understanding is that those don’t cover pre-existing conditions which will be useless for me. I want to make sure that while I’m recovering I will be able to get adequate treatment without paying insane amounts out of pocket. And also, will I be able to opt out of the insurance policy once I’m ready to depart? Are there usually any penalties?

Appreciate any and all advice!