When you apply for or renew your coverage in the Health Insurance Marketplace, you’ll need to provide information about you and your household, including income, and insurance coverage you currently have, and some additional information.

Use the checklist below to help you gather what you need to apply for coverage.  Open enrollment ends February 15, 2015.

• Home and/or mailing addresses for everyone applying for coverage.
• Social Security Numbers.
• Document information for
• Employer and income information for every member of your household (for example, from pay stubs or W-2 forms—Wage and Tax Statements)
• Your best estimate of what your household income will be in 2015.
• Policy numbers for any current health insurance plans covering members of your household.
• A completed “Employer Coverage Tool” for every job-based plan you or someone in your household is eligible for. (You’ll need to fill out this form even for coverage you’re eligible for but don’t enroll in.)
• Notices from current plan that include your plan ID, if you have or had bad health coverage in 2014.

For more information, go to:

https://marketplace.cms.gov/outreach-and-education/marketplace-application-checklist.pdf

Teaching Suggestions

• Many states are expanding Medicaid to cover more people. Ask students to find out what Medicaid expansion might mean for them.
• Why do some people qualify for an exemption from the fee based on income or other situation?

Discussion Questions

1. Do most people who apply for health insurance through marketplace qualify for premium tax credit?
2. What penalties are imposed on people who don’t have a coverage in 2015?
3. Can you buy a plan outside the marketplace and still meet the health care law’s coverage requirement?