I was married young at 21 years old. I was finishing college, trying to keep things in my new marriage together, and worrying about all the "grown-up" things I'd never had to worry about before. Like health insurance.

Luckily, our college offered insurance to students at a low rate, so, being the responsible young woman I was, I sat down to fill out the paperwork. At this point, my husband had already graduated school, but hadn't secured a full-time job, so he was without health insurance as well. While looking through the paperwork, I realized that I could add him on through the insurance offered by the school.

"Lance...i can add you to the health insurance for just an extra $75.00 a month, would you like me to do that?" I asked.

"Nah, when was the last time I was sick? I'll be fine." He grinned at me while he grabbed the trash bag and walked out the door to throw it in the dumpster.

I shrugged and went back to doing what I was doing. Not five minutes later I heard, "Laura! Laura! Come here, help!" I thought he was kidding and yelled back, "yeah, yeah, wait a minute..." and slowly got up to see what he needed.

What I saw when I walked out the door shocked me. Blood was gushing out of my husband's lower leg, so much so that his sandal was coated in it. I'd been a lifeguard since I was 16--I knew how to do first aid, but a first aid kit wasn't one of the things we had put on our Wedding Registry. So, I grabbed the next best thing, paper towels and duct tape. I pressed the paper towels firmly to his leg & secured them tightly with the tape, saying, "What happened!?!"

"I don't know, the trash bag brushed against my leg. It didn't even hurt, but then I felt something dripping & I looked down. I dropped the trash bag. Can you go put it in the dumpster?"

I looked at him like he was crazy. "No, we're getting you stitches. Now." I supported him to the car, but could tell he was getting dizzy, and a little loopy. "Okay, babe, lean the seat back, prop your legs up, try to get comfortable." We lived in a small city, so there were no Urgent Care locations, but there was a hospital, so I took him straight to the ER.

I wish I hadn't. I wish I had taken him to the next City for care. Oh well. We waited & waited, then when the first person saw him (a student I knew from school), he failed to put on gloves, and then caused Lance immense pain by putting gauze directly on the wound...then pulling it off. Not smart. When we were finally seen, it was a Nurse Practitioner who came in to give care. She didn't put on gloves, either. Seriously. Then, she gave him 9 staples, didn't like her work, took them out, tried again. Still didn't like it. Took them out again. Then she stitched him up. She never bothered to clean the wound or do anything else. It was not a good experience.

The total cost? $1200.00.

Now, I know that health insurance is expensive. I know it can be hard to figure out how to pay for it. But I also believe that the peace of mind that comes with knowing you're covered is...Priceless.