Having Health Insurance Is Easier Than Not

I grew up in a single parent home raised by my mom. For all of my life she always went off to work everyday, and for a short time she even had a part-time job where she worked in the evenings and on weekends. We didn't have everything we wanted, but we had everything we needed. If we needed to see a doctor or dentist, we did. If we needed prescription medicine, we got it. If we had to go to the emergency room or even ended up in the hospital over night, there was no question or hesitation, we just went.

When I was 15, my mother got laid off from a company where she had been working as an administrative assistant for almost eight years. At the time she was working there, she had a part-time job working for a bridal store doing alterations on wedding gowns. Naturally, she thought about getting another office job. But people at her day job were always asking her to do some sewing for them, and she had gotten a 10-week severance package, which was like getting paid for 10 more weeks. So she also considered starting her own business doing alterations and sewing from home.

My moms only concerned was about health insurance coverage for all of us. Should she buy it directly or should we just pay the bill when we saw a doctor. We were all pretty healthy hadn't been sick enough to see a doctor in the last three years. I don't even know when we were at the hospital last, either. My mom decided to start her business and not have insurance for the time being.

A short time after my mom started her own business my sister went away to school, and she was required to have health insurance coverage. My mom bought her the insurance the school offered. The cost was very reasonable, and the coverage was good. Unfortunately, the school was out of state and the insurance was only offered to people who lived in that state. So my mom couldn't buy a family package or even get insurance for me, and we still had no insurance coverage.

While my sister was away at school, I developed a hernia and sometimes it was painful. I couldn't get it fixed, though, because the surgery was expensive and we still didn't have health insurance. I had that hernia for about three years when I got a full-time job where I had the option buying health insurance. I got the insurance, like my mom suggested, and I got my hernia repaired this past summer. The cost of everything--the hospital bill, all the doctor bills, etc.--came to more than $12,000. My cost was what I paid for my monthly insurance premiums from my paycheck and my co-payments for a total of $140 out of pocket. Ive also been able to have some wellness checkups and see a dentist with just a small co-pay.

Sometimes it a hard decision to make to buy health insurance for yourself and/or your family or live without it. Without health insurance you may not be able to afford to see a doctor or go to the hospital, as you need to. My mom sees a doctor when shes sick, and I'm glad about that. But I know if she had health insurance, she would take better care of herself and get regular wellness checkups. Some health issues can be prevented or caught early when you see a doctor when you're well.