You don't have to be among the millions of uninsured Americans to know how expensive health care coverage is. Whether you're saddled with monthly health insurance premiums, or you pay for medical care out of your own pocket, one thing's for sure: It ain't cheap! A sobering example of health care's rising cost was reported by the Ford Motor Company in 2004 when it began paying more per year for employee health insurance than for the raw steel used in building their cars.

As with any other major expenditure, you should carefully consider all your health plan options before making any commitments. One lesser-known choice is called catastrophic insurance. This type of policy only covers major medical expenses, so it isn't as comprehensive as most common insurance plans, but the trade-off is that it's much less expensive. Of course, there are many factors to take into account before determining if this is the best way to go. I've only considered buying catastrophic insurance a few times in my life, so I'm no expert, but I hope my story helps to bring you closer to choosing what works best for you.

I never thought that word would apply to me, but in 1990 I was abruptly downsized out of my job as a manager in a telecommunications company where I had worked for nearly nine years. It was the first time in my seventeen-year electronics career that I had been without a job and the benefits that went along with it. My employer-provided health care coverage had cost me virtually nothing on an ongoing basis – just a small co-payment when I used the HMO’s services. It didn't take long for me to realize how much I had taken my employer's generosity for granted.

Naturally, my first priority after losing the job was to find another source of income. I didn’t want to go back into technology work, so I tried a few interesting and fun entrepreneurial ventures, but they didn’t produce any income. At the same time, I also began shopping around for health insurance so I could regain the security of knowing it was there if I needed it. I was disappointed to learn that most comprehensive health plans like my previous HMO’s were so outrageously expensive that I simply couldn’t afford them, even if I had still been earning the "big bucks" of my previous salary.

The only health plans that seemed accessible were the relatively low-cost, scary sounding “catastrophic insurance” plans that theoretically covered major medical expenses in the event of accident or illness. I looked into a few of them and learned that they didn't even come close to offering the protection available with the higher-priced HMO and PPO plans. But by the time I reached that disheartening conclusion, I was so broke I couldn't afford any plan, so I put my search on hold until I got back on my feet financially.

Within a few months after the lay-off, my bank account balance began getting uncomfortably low, and I was getting desperate. Ultimately, I began a new career by enrolling in massage school and took a low-paying part-time job as a market researcher at night. I envisioned myself establishing a lucrative massage business after becoming certified, and I could then resume my search for health insurance. But in the spirit of John Lennon's famous words, "Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans,” the massage business never grew to the point I anticipated, so I had to develop additional self-employment enterprises to get my income to a comfortable level.

I ultimately gave up the search for catastrophic insurance for two main reasons: (1) my need to find some type of coverage simply lost its urgency as time went by, and (2) I learned that many of the advertised plans were scams, the companies went bankrupt, or they otherwise took advantage of their policy holders. A friend had this type of insurance at one time, and told me how the company did indeed pay for her $1,600 medical procedure but left her with a $7,400 debt for unpaid hospital expenses because of a loophole in the policy.

To be fair, I should point out that this all took place before the Internet became an integral part of our daily lives, so comparison-shopping for anything was far more cumbersome and time-consuming. Today, just a few keystrokes produce the information we need (and then some) for most of our major decisions.

The key to successfully living without health insurance is simple: Stay well and don't get hurt. But seriously, that only works up to a point. During the years I was uninsured, I had to seek medical help for a few minor issues, and I simply paid for the services out my own pocket. The clinic in my town even offers a discount for paying cash because it minimizes the hassle and expense of insurance billing.

In 2007, I started shopping for dental insurance and decided to see if I could get it through the Veterans Administration. As a Vietnam veteran, I figured some kind of VA coverage would be a slam-dunk, so I went to the appropriate web sites, downloaded the forms, requested a fresh copy of my DD214 Discharge Report and sent them all in. I really felt let down a few weeks later when the VA denied my request for any medicals benefits because my income was too high. After deciphering the confusing technicalities governing their decision, I figured out that if I had applied before the cut-off date in 2003, I could have qualified for some type of VA health plan. But according to the guidelines - and thanks to legislation spearheaded by the Bush administration and a Republican Congress - I'd have to be almost poverty-stricken to qualify in 2007.

I don't have much of a political bias one way or the other, but even I breathed a sigh of relief when Barack Obama was elected President in 2008. I came to appreciate his administration's sense of compassion even more in June 2009 when I received a notice from the VA indicating that the income threshold for medical benefits had been raised substantially, and that I should re-apply for coverage. Thank you, Mr. Obama - What great news! At the time, I didn’t have a pressing need to respond, so I put the notice in the “I’ll get to it soon” file, feeling better in the knowledge that I was close to having an affordable health plan for the first time in almost two decades.

In September 2009, I stepped down backwards off a truck bumper and landed the wrong way -- I felt my left knee come apart and buckle toward the right one. Although it wasn’t as painful as you might imagine, it was definitely an "Uh-oh!" moment. When I tried to walk, my left leg wouldn't hold me up and I could feel the bones in my knee move around each time I put weight on it. By the time I saw the paramedics, the knee had swollen a little, but it was mysteriously painless and I could still move it! It wasn't a life-threatening condition, so they wrapped it with an Ace bandage, gave me some crutches and advised me to keep it elevated, ice it and have it treated by a medical professional within the next few days.

My first thought was to re-apply to the VA for health care coverage. I had no idea how severe the injury was, and my leg was swelling a little more each hour, so I knew I couldn’t wait two or three weeks to go through the entire application process again. I called the VA’s toll-free number and explained my situation. I was instructed to simply go to the nearest VA medical center and apply for medical benefits. If I qualified, I would be enrolled in a health plan, and then I would follow their instructions to begin treatment that day. If I did not qualify, they would provide any emergency treatment needed anyway, and I'd be billed for it later.

By the time I got to the medical center, my knee still felt the same, but it was alarmingly swollen, along with the lower leg and foot, so I was anxious to have it taken care of. After filling out a few forms in the Registration department, I met with an enrollment specialist, who shared some interesting news with me: The denial of coverage when I applied to the VA in 2007 was due to a clerical error on their part. He said I should have been granted coverage automatically - regardless of income - because my discharge document clearly stipulates that I was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal, which means that I was physically in the country for a full tour of duty. In other words, the three little letters "VSM" on my DD214 were simply overlooked the first time I applied.

He went on to explain that the VA decided to grant medical coverage to all Vietnam vets because of possible exposure to Agent Orange, and they wanted to ensure that any vet from that era could be screened and treated for it.

As I "crutched" my way out of his office, I can’t tell you how good I felt knowing that I finally have medical coverage for the first time in almost 20 years -- and it's free! It’s so gratifying to finally get something in exchange for the hellish year I spent in that otherwise nice little country.

I spent the whole day at the medical center, going through enrollment, intake screening, examination, ultrasound and x-ray. My knee was initially diagnosed with a torn ligament that would probably require arthroscopic surgery to repair, but an MRI revealed that the injury was even less severe. Nothing was torn, and the two weeks I spent keeping my weight off of my leg while waiting for the MRI appointment allowed the knee to re-stabilize and begin the mending process on its own.

In case you're wondering, you don't have to be a combat veteran to qualify for VA benefits. That's a common misconception that keeps a number of vets from applying. I joined the Air Force to specifically avoid combat duty, and became an F-4 Phantom jet engine mechanic at Cam Rahn Bay and Tan Son Nhut Air Bases in '68 and '69. But that didn't stop the bullets, mortars and rockets that the Viet Cong sporadically sent our way. In any event, my tour of duty was enough to qualify me for the medical benefits I'm grateful for today.

All in all, I am very happy with the level of care and professionalism I experience each time I either contact the VA personnel or go to the hospital. I wholeheartedly recommend that every veteran check his or her eligibility and sign up if you qualify.