Why Should I Get Health Insurance? 
Unless you have a magic crystal ball that can tell you when you might have a life threating accident or illness then having a health insurance plan needs to be a part of your financial planning for your future . Notice that I said your future . No one will ever care as much about you as you ! Sure you have those folks in your life who love you but do they have hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for your medical care if push comes to shove ? Probably not . Since the Affordable Care Act passed the Congress and was signed into law you now have an opportunity to receive guaranteed issue health insurance . So no matter how ill you may be you are guaranteed that you can purchase a health plan . Now the law does have some gate-keeper rules on when you can enroll into a plan . For now the Open Enrollment Period runs from November 15th to February 15th of each year . During that period you can enroll in a health plan , change plans and apply for Federal Assistance , called a subsidy , to help pay for your plan . For the rest of the year you may be eligible for a Special Election Period if you have gotten married , divorced , had a new child or adoption or moved from one geographical area of the country to another . If you have lost your coverage at work due to lay off , loss of job or your employer discontinuing the plan you may be eligible for a Special Election Period . You can check the various Special Election Periods online at : www.healthcare.gov or by calling a local insurance agent who can help you . By the way insurance agents have to go through special training on a government website and pass several tests to be qualified to help you choose a plan on the Federal Marketplace at www.healthcare.gov Insurance agents can help you sort through all of the plans offered on the website and help you enroll in the right plan for you . It 's important that you choose the correct plan as you are locked into that plan for the entire year . So with proper planning you can save yourself a lot of money if you become ill or have an accident and you wo n't have to rely on friends or family to bail you out . A little spent now on a health insurance premium can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in the future . 