Suppose you are self employed or run a small business. You are likely paying for your own healthcare insurance. Now suppose you and your wife are relatively young and relatively healthy. You may be looking at what you are paying in monthly premiums for even an affordable private health insurance policy, and wondering is it really worth it? This is what one couple did recently in Florida. They owned a dog grooming business together, and earned about $90,000 a year. They were purchasing private Individuals for themselves and one child. However they felt that they were paying an awful lot for a minimal low-cost health insurance policy, and were getting very little back in return. The high copays and the high deductible amount meant in addition to the premiums, they were also paying quite a bit out-of-pocket for medical epenses. So they decided to bite the bullet and drop the health insurance. At first it seemed like a good idea. They were saving on the monthly health insurance premium. In fact when the wife became pregnant with the couples second child, she was able to negotiate her own deal with her doctor for delivery services that actually cost $2,000 less than what they would have paid if they still had their health insurance coverage. Then something unforeseen happened. The baby was born with a congenital defect. It will leave her legally blind, and she will require regular care that will amount to thousands of dollars annually, and may require surgeries that will cost in the tens of thousands of dollars. Now not only will the family have to go out of pocket for all of these unepected medical epenses, it may be difficult or even impossible for them to get affordable health insurance now that the child has a pre-eisting condition. Stories like this one are not as uncommon as you might think, and they are illustrative of why it is important never to take the risk of living without health insurance. Living without adequate health insurance coverage is especially risky if you have a family. Health insurance eperts agree that you should not purchase more health insurance than you need, or than you can afford, but you need to have the protection from financial ruin that unepected medical epenses can bring. The couple in this illustration probably could have benefited from the advice of a qualified insurance broker or health insurance agent. The professional could have steered them in the direction of an affordable health insurance policy, appropriate for the needs of their family. As it turned out the daughter was able to qualify for a state sponsored health insurance plan for children under SCHIP, and the rest of the family qualified for a high deductible health insurance plan with a well known insurance company, that included wellness visits, for less than $150 a month.