By Cynthia Riveles

On January 20, Yuma Regional Medical Center assistants came to Arizona Western College to hold a health-care insurance fair in the Francis Morris room to provide information for those students in need of health insurance.

The fair started off with a simple tour around the set up tables for people to collect brochures involving different insurances and information about the marketplace. The fair then continued with a segment of questions where students and even parents had the opportunity to ask any questions pertaining to health-care insurances.

"I am here because health insurance is always good to have. An emergency can happen any time and if you don't have insurance, medical bills can pile up", says AWC student Melissa Argomaniz. "I would love to have a good insurance that provides good doctors".

One of the topics that has been extremely controversial in the last year has been that people who do not have health insurance, will be fined at the time of filing their taxes. YRMC assistants also provided information regarding the topic.

"Teen students are most likely to be fined than adults because the majority of them do not make lots of money to pay for an insurance", says YRMC assistant Clarissa DeCarlo. That is why we are here, to let those students know that they can still receive insurance such as AHCCCS" says DeCarlo.

AHCCCS is Arizona's Medicaid program. In order to qualify for AHCCCS, the applicant must have a low annual income, be a legal resident, and live in the state of Arizona.

Some important questions to ask before selecting a plan are questions that you can affiliate with, such as what is the monthly premium? What is the maximum out of pocket cost? And, one of the most important questions is what will this plan cost me once all tax credits are applied? For any more questions or concerns, please contact YRMC where they will help you with the process.