Think you could set your own broken bone? That’s what some of the millions of uninsured people in America end up doing when they need medical care.

Other strategies include self-diagnosing online, visiting cheap and free clinics, the extremely dangerous practice of trading meds with friends, and getting other people with insurance to get their scrips for them via sympathetic doctors. A good number of the uninsured, especially in places like New York, are freelancers recently out of college in jobs with no health benefits.

The good news is that by joining a group like Freelancer’s Union you can get access to affordable health care, provided your industry meets the eligibility requirements. It’s certainly better than the alternative, putting a $17,000 hospital bill on credit cards, or tying a split with one hand while turning the pages of a battlefield medic manual with the other.

For Uninsured Young Adults, Do-It-Yourself Health Care [NYT] (Photo: clango)

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