Alex Magnanini of Havertown, PA is lucky to have health insurance through his current job. That wasn’t always the case. At his previous job, Magnanini paid $78 out of pocket each month for a plan because his employer didn’t offer subsidized health care. The bare bones plan gave him two physician and two dentist visits per year and emergency medical care.

“Don’t stay uninsured for too long,” said Magnanini. “Get health insurance because you never know when you will need it.”

Health care is on everyone’s mind these days. A Gallup poll from June 2009 shows that 27.6% (the highest percentage of any age group) of people aged 18-29 are uninsured. Not surprisingly, 71% of people aged 18-44 want guaranteed health care for all Americans.

Many young people are unemployed, working part-time jobs that don’t offer benefits. Some are attending graduate school and are unable to afford the insurance available through their universities. Jessica Lent of New York City earned her masters degree earlier this year.

“Health insurance is a big thing on my mind as I’m looking for a job,” said Lent.

Belts are tightening during the recession, and, scarily enough, many 20-somethings are cutting back on their health care. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 23% of people polled have skipped a recommended treatment, and 21% didn’t fill a prescription.

Ian McElroy, of Brooklyn, NY, summed it up in a recent New York Times story. “I’ve got to make rent and eat.”

Some young people are using WebMD to diagnose themselves and getting medicines from their friends, two dangerous practices. Antibiotics, for example, are not one-size fits all, so someone’s leftover prescription could do more harm than good. Barbie Gatton, an emergency room physician from New York, told The New York Times about these self-diagnosers, “The problem is, they haven’t really treated their illness, and they’re breeding resistance.”

There are safer options out there for young people to stay healthy. AETNA and other providers offer basic plans for people with income limits. The Freelancers Union offers health care to people with part-time or temporary jobs or who work for themselves.

Earlier this year, Walgreens began offering diagnostic tests and free treatment at the walk-in Take Care Health Clinics. Patients who have lost their jobs and health insurance can get treated for things like allergies, infections, and skin conditions.

For more involved medical attention, one option is Planned Parenthood. Not just for reproductive health, many sites offer general physical exams for men and women, flu vaccines, tetanus shots, and many other forms of health care. Costs vary by service, but there are payment plans and sliding scales, where patients pay based on their income.

If you need prescriptions, CVS has a new program called the Health Savings Pass that offers a 90-day supply of over 400 generic drugs for $9.99 plus a $10 annual membership fee.

Anne Zachan of Irvine, CA lost her job as a high school teacher at the end of last school year, and her coverage will run out at the end of August.

“I have always lived a fairly healthy lifestyle, but I am certainly more aware of my daily choices now that I am about to bid farewell to my good friend HMO,” she said. Zachan and her fellow uninsured friends are eating healthier, exercising more, drinking less, and getting more sleep. This is stay-healthy advice that’s good for everyone, insured and uninsured alike.

Like Magnanini said, though, being without insurance for too long is risky. Just ask Jess Noonan of Urbana, IL. Since finishing graduate school, she’s been working part-time as an adjunct professor and is therefore unable to participate in her employer’s group plan. Noonan, however, has a pre-existing condition, and she can’t go without certain medicines.

“Failure to keep up on my prescriptions will just lead to health problems/complications and more medical costs in the future,” said Noonan, who must pay the expensive costs out of pocket.

One of the plans Congress is considering will forbid insurance companies from refusing to cover people like Noonan who have a pre-existing condition. Another will let young adults stay on their parents’ plans until the age of 26. Young Americans might also qualify for insurance premium subsidies in another plan, said the Associated Press.

Lent, Zachan, and Noonan are just three of the millions of Generation Y-ers who have been negatively affected by the health care industry. They realize the value of taking care of themselves, especially now that jobs are scarce and health coverage even rarer. Hopefully, they won’t have to walk the precarious line of being uninsured for much longer.