What you need to know for health insurance open enrollment

(Harrisburg) — Open enrollment on the federal Affordable Care Act exchange starts Saturday, and it’s an opportunity for customers to look around again for insurance.

Unless you get married, divorced, have a child, move to another state, or see a significant change in income, jumping to another health insurance plan is limited to open enrollment.

Lynn Keltz, executive director of the Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumers Association, says switching could be worth it.

“Some of us might have signed a check box that said yes, we want to continue with this for the next five years, but we still have the option of going in, looking at the plans, see if there’s something that suits us better this year than what we had the first year, and making that selection,” she says.

Premiums could also rise for those whose plans are renewing automatically, making it worthwhile to look at other options.

What you’ll need:

• Your Social Security number
• Income estimate for 2015
• Social Security numbers and income estimates for anyone else on the plan

When it runs:

Open enrollment starts Saturday, November 15th, and ends February 15th.

If you want coverage to start Jan 1st, a person must sign up by December 15th.

Will it work?

There’s no way to predict, but most are expecting improvements, including a simpler application process.

The federal government is setting lower expectations for enrollment numbers, after last year’s period was marred by a technology meltdown.

However, smaller goals raise questions about how effective the law will be at expanding access.

Where can I get more information?

WITF’s Transforming Health project has put together an interactive, easy to use tool called Getting Covered. It also breaks down how Healthy Pennsylvania, a separate health insurance program for low-income Pennsyvlanians, will work when it takes effect in 2015.