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" Not insured? Well, you don&amp;#039;t have to think twice anymore about whether to take that ski trip this winter with 11 friends (in a house that sleeps six, natch!). Now, even if you were to break a leg on the slopes, you&amp;#039;ll have health insurance to pay for your cast. But before you buy, here are the seven things you need to know: 1. Because of the Affordable Care Act, you can now shop for and buy a private health plan using new online marketplaces. Insurers can&amp;#039;t reject you or charge you higher rates because of any pre-existing condition or just because you&amp;#039;re a woman (which, believe it or not, is what was happening in the past). You have until December 15 to enroll for coverage that will start on January 1, 2014. Open enrollment runs through March 31, 2014.  2. Prices for coverage will vary dramatically across the country and even within states \u2014 just as they do now. About 56 percent of people who are currently uninsured will have the option of choosing a plan that costs less than $100 a month, according to early estimates released by the federal Health and Human Services Department. What you pay will depend on where you live, your age and how low your income is. Here are some examples: A 27-year-old in Los Angeles with an annual income of $30,000 may pay as little as $97 a month. A 27-year-old in Chicago with an income of $25,000 a year could pay $96 a month. A 27-year-old in Jackson, MS could pay as little as $8 a month. 3. The online marketplaces will help determine if you&amp;#039;re eligible for Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for people with low incomes. The Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid to cover everyone who makes under $15,800. (Note\u2014the Supreme Court made this expansion optional for states to participate in; to find out if your state expanded, click here.) To find the online marketplace in your state, go to www.healthcare.gov. To determine your options, you&amp;#039;ll need to enter your zip code, age, and in some cases, whether you smoke. You&amp;#039;ll also have to estimate your household income for 2014 to determine if you&amp;#039;re eligible for a government subsidy and if so, how much. If you&amp;#039;re eligible for a subsidy, the amount will automatically be deducted from the premiums you have to pay the plan each month. FYI, if you inadvertently underestimate your 2014 income \u2013and get a higher subsidy than you&amp;#039;re entitled to\u2014you&amp;#039;ll owe money back to the government in 2015.  4. Once you&amp;#039;ve entered the information, the online marketplace will give you a list of plans in your area and their monthly cost. All the plans will be required to cover 10 essential health benefits, including doctor visits, emergency services, prescription drugs, maternity care, hospitalization, and rehabilitation services such as physical therapy. 5. If you want to know whether your doctor or favorite hospital is in a plan, the exchange will direct you to the insurer&amp;#039;s web site to find out. Keep in mind, the cheapest plans will probably have the fewest choices of doctors and hospitals. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. 6. Shopping for health coverage will be easier than it has been in the past, but it won&amp;#039;t be as simple as buying a plane ticket on Expedia. If you have questions, you can call the federal consumer hotline at 1-800-318-2596. Or to talk to a specially-trained navigator in your area, find one here. Or you can contact an insurance agent trained in the law. 7. The online exchange is mostly meant to help people who are uninsured navigate this process, but even if you already have insurance, you might still be able to benefit. If your share of your insurance premium is more than 9.5 percent of your annual gross income, you may qualify for a subsidy, which could lower your costs. Go ahead and check out your state&amp;#039;s exchange just to compare prices\u2014you might just find a better deal online. Hey, it may not be as much fun as shopping for shoes, but if it saves you money, why not?  Phil Galewitz is a senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communication organization. It is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. Photo: Getty Images "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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