As Camosun students, we have those pesky fees at the beginning of every school year for dental and health insurance that we pay and then often forget about. January’s fees loomed over us and are now (hopefully) paid, and it got me thinking about how I paid for things last semester to further my well being and they went completely unused. Oops!
I know I am not the only student who let that slip by, but I can say that not having coverage is even worse than paying those fees. Want your cavities filled? Do it before you’ll be forking over $100 out of pocket for a simple cleaning, never mind the cost of getting fillings. Can’t read the chalkboard? Get your eyes checked before a pair of glasses costs you $700. Want an IUD, the most effective form of birth control? Get one before it will cost you $400.
At the risk of sounding like my mother, I strongly urge you to at least think about how much better off you will be in the long run for taking care of your health early on in life. Unless you’re a shark, you have one set of adult teeth and will be more comfortable and overall better off later on in life if you take care of your cavities instead of getting root canals.
A few years ago, my combined birthday/Christmas present was going to the optometrist to get glasses—I couldn’t afford to go without getting help and I wasn’t covered.
To anybody who can get pregnant or might get someone else pregnant, IUDs are more dependable devices than taking the pill, even if you take the pill at exactly the same time every day. If your objective is to avoid accidentally having a baby now or within the next five years, get an IUD while you’re covered. Babies are more expensive than an IUD, and so is the pill when you add up how much that costs over a five-year period.
Even if your back hurts from hunching over a keyboard and typing out essays, you are covered through your benefits for massage therapy.
Take care of yourselves, fellow students; we are covered for it.