By Katherine Schaller
When I tell people I work at Young Invincibles and explain to them what we do, they’re often confused. “If you’re invincible, why do you need health insurance?” is a popular question people ask me. Well, if you’re a kick ass young person, you need to realize that you can’t predict the future and you should get covered.
Take the example of the Washington Nationals’ Washington Nationals’ outfielder Bryce Harper. He’s young- only 20 years old, and despite being a newbie (it’s his second year in the major leagues) he’s doing great so far. However, he’s now spending sometime in rehab after playing with an array of health issues- a stomach bug, injuries from bashing into the right field wall, even a bad ingrown toenail (TMI? I said it was bad…).
Photo by Reed Saxon – AP.
You may not be a 20 year-old playing professional sports, but you might be a 19 year-old breaking her ankle playing soccer with her friends.
1) Accidents happen. You might be a 25 year-old getting into a car accident, or a 31 year-old slipping on some black ice… you get the idea. We’re all breakable, and you need to be prepared.
2) If something happens, it could be costly.
Harper makes millions of dollars, but most of us don’t. Let’s be realistic: if we get in an accident or find out we need a new medication, it could cost an arm and a leg. The smart thing to do is to get covered before anything goes wrong.
3) Take care of yourself!
Look, I’m a Nats fan, and of course I don’t want to change how hard Bryce Harper plays the game; but I do want him to be able to keep playing the game for years to come. Bryce has coaches, trainers, and team doctors to take care of him, and to at least try to stop him from playing when he’s about to throw up. You may not have a team behind you, but you still need to take care of yourself, with preventive care like screenings, vaccines, and counseling. That way, you can keep working hard and playing hard for years to come.
Check out YI’s mobile app to learn more about your health insurance options.
Did we miss any points about why young people need to get covered? Please leave comments below with your thoughts.