So you’ve been fired or laid off and  can’t afford those outrageous COBRA payments.  What do you do until you can get health coverage again?

Assuming you’re a healthy person who usually only needs routine care, vaccination, or treatment for the occasional wound, a cleaning from a dentist, and yearly eye exams, there are ways to make it through the gap.

Start Saving

There are medical-savings accounts that are a viable alternative to health insurance, but it can take time to build enough cash to make the tax breaks worth it.

Let’s look at a plain old savings account.  Stash whatever you can scrape up into an interest-bearing savings account.  Even one hundred dollars can earn interest, and that can cover one visit to a clinic. 

Even if you can only put away ten dollars a week, in a month or so, that could pay for a dental cleaning.

If you don’t use the money for medical visits, before you know it, you might have enough to buy a personal health insurance policy.

Resist the urge to use the money for a great pair of shoes or a new hairstyle.  When you don’t have health coverage, those things need to take a back seat.

Limit Risks

Be sensible about your likelihood to become injured.  Skip the rock climbing and sky-diving.  Think twice about running that annual 5K marathon, too—a sprained ankle or broken leg could break the bank.  I don’t mean you should hibernate, but take it easy until you have coverage again.

Take your vitamins, and spring for the twenty-dollar flu shot at the community clinic.  Look at your habits, too.  Drinking and smoking can weaken your immune system, which is the last thing you want right now. 

Drink your orange juice, eat healthy foods, and exercise regularly.  Sometimes prevention really is the best medicine.

Be Sensible

If you normally go to a doctor every time you catch a cold, and the doctor always tells you to get more sleep and drink lots of fluid, take their advice and skip the visit.

Persistent illnesses require the care of a doctor, but the common cold usually has to run its course anyway.

Sometimes, just a phone call to the doctor’s office can be enough.  Ask to speak to the nurse practitioner or medical assistant.  They can advise you whether an office visit is really necessary.

If in doubt, always call rather than ignore your symptoms.  Your health is the most important asset you have.