Living in your first (albeit cramped) digs, outfitted with your very own messy roommates, dining on Top Ramen and searching for that ever-elusive dream job have become rites of passage.

For those who have made it through the transition into adulthood, the mention of such things may evoke sentiments of nostalgia; for those still in the midst of it–possibly panic. But we can probably all agree this uncertain time can be trying–even more so in the past few years.

Why? Because scads of young adults are without health insurance–approximately 1 in 3, compared to 1 in 6 Americans overall.

During this tumultuous time, young people often go without the societal support offered children and older adults. It’s not that those crazy kids just don’t know the value of a good health plan, either. In fact, according to a 2002 study conducted by The Kaiser Commission for Medicaid and Uninsured, 70 percent of young adults rate adequate health insurance one of their top priorities when choosing a job. Unfortunately, frequent career changes, lack of job-based benefits and stints of unemployment beget inevitable periods without health insurance.

According to a Commonwealth Fund publication, 40 percent of uninsured 19-29 year olds received no preventative health care in the past year. And half of uninsured young adults with low incomes did not receive needed medical care.

Although this age group is generally considered healthy, they’re actually at higher risk for certain acute conditions, such as HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. Case in point: the Commonwealth Fund reported people 19-29 receive one-third of all HIV diagnoses. Of the 21 million women ages 19-29, 3.5 million become pregnant annually. And individuals in this age group are more likely than children or older adults to sustain injuries that require emergency care.

Whether you’ve recently turned 19 and been booted from your parent’s coverage; you’re leaving fun-filled college life and your student health insurance behind; or you’re working somewhere that doesn’t offer benefits, you do have options. If you were covered under your parent or legal guardian’s plan and are no longer considered dependent (read: you’ve turned 19 and are not enrolled in college), you could qualify for COBRA. You may also want to consider individual health coverage if you think you’ll be without health insurance for an extended period of time.

Each state has its own laws regarding coverage. So do some research, find out your state’s requirements (find helpful consumer guides here), and make sure you get and keep health insurance during this time of flux.