Undiagnosed Hernia

I am pretty sure I have an undiagnosed reducible inguinal hernia. There is a large lump to the upper left of my groin. I can push it back in and push it out if I cough.

It has not been diagnosed. I got it several years ago when I use to lift weights a lot. At first it was very small and didn't hurt at all. Over the years it has gotten larger and now it is starting to hurt. I never did anything about it before because I never new what it was till it started hurting and I investigated what it could be.

I have not been to the doctor yet. I don't have any health insurance. My question is is it possible for me to get any kind of health insurance to cover repairing it?

I am a 24 year old male full-time college student living in Florida in good health except for the hernia. I don't have very much money and make less 10k a year from a part time job. I also get 6k a year in grants for school. My family is all poor.

I am planning on trying to qualify for Medicaid, but if I do not qualify, I was wondering how pre-existing conditions work. Several of the individual health plans I looked at say there is an exclusion period where they won't cover pre-existing conditions. So does my undiagnosed hernia count as a preexisting condition? How would an insurer know that I didn't get it after I was put on a health plan? Also my work offers health insurance, but I don't know if I can get covered with a pre-existing condition. I just don't understand how health insurance works.

I need advice on the best thing for me to do with the least cost as I barely have enough money to pay all my bills as it is.

Thanks,
Herniated Student