Thread by @sangerkatz

If you need health insurance, now is a great time to start shopping. It’s open enrollment season on healthcare.gov and state insurance exchanges.

If your family income is below 400% of the federal poverty level (about $105k for a family of four), you can get subsidies to help you pay your premiums.

If you earn more, prices are down this year in many markets.

If your monthly income is below 133% of the poverty level--possible if you just lost your job--you can qualify for Medicaid in most (but not all) states. If you think that's you, your best bet is going right to your state's Medicaid enrollment site.

If you're not sure what you qualify for, healthcare.gov is a great first stop.

Picking the right insurance plan can be hard. If you're not sure what's right for you, here are a few ideas:

1) Peruse this delightful flow chart: nytimes.com/2016/11/02/ups…

2) Talk to a local broker or a nonprofit assister. Here's a list: localhelp.healthcare.gov

You can filter results if you just want to look at one type of helper. Brokers and agents may be most helpful if you don't qualify for subsidies. Assisters may be better if you do.

An advantage of shopping on healthcare.gov is that all the plans there have to follow the same rules--they protect people with preexisting conditions, and cover the same set of basic benefits. "Metal" tiers, like silver or gold, tell you how generous the plans are.

If you're shopping on the phone or on another site, make sure you know what you're buying. So-called "short-term" plans can be cheaper that Obamacare-complaint plans, but they tend to have more benefit holes. nytimes.com/2018/08/01/ups…

The enrollment window is relatively small for Obamacare plans, so shop now if you need insurance now.

But if you lose your coverage because you lose your job outside the enrollment period, you can still sign up then.