Take some time this week to do something big for yourself, your loved ones, friends, work colleagues, and our country, for that matter:

• Exercise your privilege, right, and duty as a citizen: Please vote.
• You may wish to look now at your health insurance coverage, please, being mindful of onrushing deadlines especially if you may be seeking or renewing a policy through the Affordable Care Act exchanges (their 2019 enrollment period opened on Nov. 1), or Medicare.

The midterm election may be one of the more key contests we have seen in recent times. It is packed with choices, especially about elected officials who make laws and policies, especially about health care matters like preserving Obamacare’s protections for patients with pre-existing conditions, minimum benefits, and lifetime limits.

Ballots across the country also will ask voters for important decisions on the expansion of Medicaid in some states, and in others, items on abortion, dialysis center profits, required nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, and children’s hospitals’ funding.

Don’t be fooled by last-minute, counter-factual claims by politicians. These have hit extremes. Do examine closely policies and actions they have taken.

As for your health insurance, news reports on what to expect are cropping up on what to expect with what can be a complex matter of your money and your choices.

In my practice, I not only see the harms that patients suffer while seeking medical services, but also their struggles to access, afford, and grasp the complexities and uncertainty of their medical care and whether it is safe, effective, and excellent. Health care has become a galvanizing issue of the midterm vote, and health insurance — which is critical in a world of skyrocketing medical costs — has become a central concern. If you find it helpful, you might stroll through the blog, where I’ve tried to deal a lot with these and other issues. You might find useful the firm’s recent newsletter on health insurance and what you need to think about now.