Making the Case for Health Insurance
By digiMa on Dec 27, 2008 in Health/Medical
Debilitating repetitive strain injury can hit suddenly and unexpectedly.
When I was younger, I went for a year or two without any health insurance; I didn’t go to college right out of high school, so I couldn’t stay on my parents’ insurance, and I changed jobs a lot during that period, which meant I never qualified to get on my employers’ group health insurance plans.
Now, of course, I realize quite painfully the folly of my youth. About a year after going back to school (and getting back on my parents’ health insurance plan), I was diagnosed as diabetic. If that had happened while I was still uninsured, I never could have afforded the medication on my own, let alone the 4-night hospital visit when I was first diagnosed!
Health problems are never expected, which is why saying “But I’m perfectly healthy” is never a legitimate excuse for not having health insurance. For instance, just last weekend I had an unexpected bout with repetitive strain injury (RSI), which is where repetitive motions without a break can cause debilitating pain. The most common cause of RSI is typing, which of course pretty much everyone does these days, at home as well as at work.
So even if you are perfectly healthy, it is important to have health insurance, because you never know what illness or injury might take you by surprise. You can get health insurance in Miami from your Florida employer, or you can buy your own Florida health insurance. If you can’t buy an individual plan because of a pre-existing condition, but you are self-employed, with just one other person (an employee or a partner, perhaps) you can qualify for Florida small group health insurance, which has to cover you.
Of course, you should take precautions to keep yourself health and prevent illness or injury, such as washing your hands frequently, keeping your home and office clean, and taking frequent breaks away from any repetitive motion. But no matter how careful you are, the unexpected can still happen, so having health insurance is important!