Your Health

Take charge of your health! In this section guys and girls can learn about how to keep their bodies and minds healthy- from sexual health to medical insurance and a lot in between. Read this story first, then check out the sub-pages and resources on the right. If you have questions about your baby’s health, check out the Being a Parent section of our site.

This is a story about one teen’s experience with health and sports.This story is based on a sampling of calls to our call center. Do you know anyone who’s been in this situation?

I’ve always loved soccer, ever since I was little. I love being on the team at my school, but things got complicated this fall. My coach came to me at the beginning of the school year and said I couldn’t play on the team. “What? I HAVE TO play,” I thought, “all my friends are there, and the team needs me!” I was so mad, it was just because of health insurance. The coach said I needed health insurance to be on the team, in case I got hurt or something I guess.

I’d never really cared if I was covered or not before, my insurance had changed a lot as my parents changed jobs, and I never really paid attention.

I was healthy, why did it matter?! All of a sudden I cared a lot. I asked my parents what to do, and they said we couldn’t afford it right now, and suggested I just play soccer after school. I didn’t feel like that was an option.

I talked to my school counselor, I knew he could fix those kinds of things. He told me about the state program, Apple Health. The application was pretty easy, but I needed information from my parents about their income and stuff. My parents were so relieved to hear that I qualified for the program and that they didn’t have to pay anything!

I was so impatient, and mad about missing the first practices of the season. I had to get a sports physical at the beginning.

The doctor asked me a bunch of questions about my health, and did some tests like taking my blood pressure.

It was actually helpful because she told me some things I didn’t know about my asthma. She changed my medication, which has helped a lot. I got to join the team again, and everything is good now. My advice to all those other people who play sports in high school....avoid what I had to go through and make sure you have health insurance before school starts!