Two weeks from today you can sign up to buy individual health insurance even if, like me, you’re a cancer survivor who would have had a zero chance of buying an individual policy under the current system. I say: good, because you need health insurance. This. Means. You.

This is about *unforeseen medical emergencies*, not Obama.

I think it’s a shame that health-care reform has been labeled Obamacare, because then people project their feelings about Obama onto it. (Personally, I support many of his policies, but I’m strongly opposed to the killer robots.) But I strongly support the U.S. federal mandate–and subsidy–for uninsured individuals to get health insurance, which kicks in January 1 of next year.

I say this because, back when I was 34, it would have seemed reasonable for me to not have health insurance: I have never smoked a cigarette or been overweight in my life, and I have long eaten a diet rich in fruits, veg, and whole grains. Then I got cancer. Twice. No clue how I’d have paid for the chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant if I had not, fortunately, had good insurance at my job. What’s more, it would probably have taken a lot longer for me to get diagnosed in the first place if I’d had to pay out of pocket for primary care, and thus been reluctant to go pay for a doctor visit just based on a slight persistent cough and general run-down feeling.

It’s also true, by the way, that insurance companies have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders to try to avoid selling cancer survivors like me health coverage. Fortunately, I love my job and don’t particularly want to be self-employed, but if I wanted to start my own business before 2014 I’d be completely unable to because, as I mentioned already, I’m super aware of how people need health insurance.

I don’t blame health-insurance corporation officials for doing their jobs, but I am sure glad that, starting in 2014, the government is doing its job of requiring companies to sell insurance to people like me with pre-existing conditions. And that only works if everyone is required to have insurance, because that’s how insurance works. (Thanks to Obamacare, children with pre-existing conditions are already able to buy insurance.)

I’m pretty peeved that all of this has become a political football. Please read how health-care reform actually works, and if you don’t have insurance, sign up for it instead of taking some kind of principled stand for your right to freeload off the system if you ever get a serious illness.

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