Here are some steps you can take to prepare for a potential layoff:

Go to the doctor today. If you're worried about being laid off, take care of as much of your regular medical care as possible; the cost of your co-pays and prescription costs will probably go up if you have to insure yourself on the private market, and if you don't have health coverage at all, you will incur hefty costs for even basic doctor's office visits. If you're trying to cram in appointments now, first make sure your insurance will cover what you're going in for—for instance, if you try to get an A1C test too soon after your last one, your insurance may not pay for it.

Use your flexible savings account (FSA). An FSA sets aside part of your pretax income for health expenses. If you have one at work, be aware that you are likely to lose that money if you are laid off. Use the FSA to pay for doctor's appointments, medical supplies, prescription refills, and tests and shots you've been putting off.

Look into alternatives for health insurance. Unless you can get on your spouse's insurance, or be covered by the Veterans Administration, your best bet may be continued coverage under COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act). It's a 1986 law under which former employees and family members who have lost health insurance may have the right to continue receiving benefits temporarily at a former employer's group rate. However, the insured person generally must pay the full policy premium, including the part once paid by the employer, so it will usually be much more expensive than employer-sponsored coverage. (You'll want to find out if you're able to keep using your FSA through COBRA coverage.)

Through 2009, laid-off workers are being offered substantial reductions in COBRA premiums as part of the stimulus package enacted in February. A Senate bill introduced in November proposes to extend these premium reductions to people already receiving them from a job loss in 2009. It would also cut COBRA premiums by 25 percent for eligible workers who lose their jobs between January and June of 2010. Finally, the Senate bill would extend COBRA coverage from 18 months to 24 months for people who were laid off in 2008. Yet as of this writing, Congress has not voted to extend COBRA premium cuts or COBRA coverage beyond what was offered in the 2009 stimulus package.

If COBRA is not an option for you, some professional organizations, alumni associations, universities, and local chambers of commerce sponsor group health insurance plans.