When Do I Need To Get Health Insurance? 
Generally speaking from a risk aversion point of view , you should strongly consider always having health insurance as the cost of health care can be extremely expensive and financial disastrous if you do not have the means to pay for it out of pocket . Regarding new legislation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act of 2010 -LRB- PPACA -RRB- you will need to acquire health insurance by 2014 in order to avoid paying the fine -LRB- penalty income tax -RRB- imposed for individuals who do not have health insurance . 