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Health Care Marketplace Open Enrollment Set to Begin this Saturday, November 15th

National Association for the Self-Employed Releases Tips for Small Business Owners to Prepare for Opening of Individual Marketplace

WASHINGTON, DC – Ahead of Saturday’s opening of the 2015 open enrollment period for the individual health care marketplace, the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), the nation’s leading advocate and resource for the self-employed and micro-business community, released a series of tips for small business owners to help them prepare. Open enrollment for health care coverage is set to start this Saturday, November 15^th and will run through February 15^th, 2015. 

Before small business owners and the self-employed, the majority of whom must enroll in the individual marketplace, sign online to shop for health care coverage for 2015, Katie Vlietstra, Vice President for Government Relations and Public Affairs for NASE, offers the following tips to consider when preparing to select a health care plan:

1. Do a full assessment of your current health care needs.  Being able to assess what is important to you and your family will make it easier to sift through the plan option in the exchange.  For example, do you anticipate any “big” medical expenses (birth of a child, surgery, etc.)?  What is your current prescription drug needs?  Do you require specialists for a known health ailment?

1. Have your 2013 tax filing information ready and available.  Your 2013 tax filings will be important for you to have available in order to gauge what, if any, health care subsidies you may be available to take advantage of in 2015. 

1. Make a full list of your current doctors in front of you.  You’ll want to ensure that your doctors are considered “in network” for any of the potential plans you are considering selecting.

1. For those already enrolled previously in the exchange, do you need to increase or decrease your coverage?  Having the right health care plan that best fits your individual needs is essential.  Paying for an oversized plan that provides many bells and whistles you haven’t utilized in the past – and will be unlikely to utilize in the future – may be a good place to start in order to help cut costs around your health care budget next year. 

1. Establish a realistic business budget that includes calculating health care costs.  Any good business owner knows to prepare a budget that helps provide planning and stability down the road.  As you prepare for the beginning of Saturday’s open enrollment period, have an idea of what your budget is for health care costs in 2015 and what’s a realistic amount for you to spend on coverage for you and/or your family.

Vlietstra recently penned an op-ed on Huffington Post urging Congress to immediately begin addressing affordable access to health care, bolstering women entrepreneurs and tackling tax reform for the small business community. NASE is committed to helping small business owners succeed by ensuring they have the tools and resources to navigate the new health care system, including offering a new health care portal on the NASE website.