I’m spending some time helping out my grandmother — she’s going through chemotherapy for the second time. She has a comfortable lifestyle, insurance and a prescription plan, but I keep getting struck by the cost of her medical care. The worst was picking up her prescriptions — even after taking insurance into account, her prescriptions cost her four figures.

I’m used to student health centers, monthly insurance payments and a co-pay whenever I go to the doctor. I haven’t had to worry about a serious illness or injury — or the medical bills that go with it. You don’t think about how bad the costs can get if you have a major health problem. It’s got me thinking about what I can do to prepare for medical expenses.

1. Get Insurance

The sad fact of the matter is that, at least in the U.S, there’s no way to afford much in the way of health care without insurance. It’s expensive and can be hard to get, but making sure you have as much coverage as you can possibly afford is one of the best things you can do to prepare for medical expenses.

2. Get Preventative Care

Preventative care is pretty much everything that keeps you from getting sick in the first place — vitamins, vaccines, etc. As a rule, you’ll have to pay a little now for preventative care in hopes of reducing the chance of having to pay a lot later on for long-term medical care. It’s a bad bet to gamble that you won’t really get sick. Preventative care can pay off if you get seriously injured as well: being in better overall health makes recovery easier and faster.

3. Build a Rainy Day Fund

Insurance doesn’t cover everything. If you can’t work, your insurance may not help you out, especially with the small expenses that are a fact of life. Having a rainy day fund in place makes it possible to handle those expenses, rather than building up debt that you’ll have to worry about after you get better. While you can use credit cards and other methods of handling those expenses, having some savings can provide you a stronger financial base if you get sick.

4. Know Your Rights

There’s plenty of information you should make sure you’re familiar with now, rather than waiting until you’re distracted with medical concerns. Your insurance, for instance, probably has all sorts of rules about your medical treatment: which doctors you can see and what treatments it will cover. Taking the time to become familiar with your insurance policy can help you make sure that your insurance pays for every cent that they should. You also have rights when it comes to help from the government, especially if you have a long-term disability. You don’t have to know every letter of the law now, but at least knowing where to look in the future will be worth your effort.

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