Despite the snow and cold that have blanketed much of the country this week, spring is coming! And that means an important deadline for signing up for healthcare coverage is also fast approaching.

The deadline for open enrollment for 2014 coverage is March 31, 2014. If you haven’t enrolled in coverage by then, you generally can’t enroll in 2014 coverage until the next open enrollment period, which begins November 15, 2014. (There are exemptions for those who have qualifying life events such as marriage, divorce, birth or adoption of a child, or loss of a job. Read more about these qualifying life events here.)

But there’s still plenty of time! In fact, if you sign up by February 15, your healthcare coverage can begin as soon as March 1.

You can shop for plans and enroll several different ways:

• By going online to HealthCare.gov;
• By phone at 1-800-318-2596;
• By mail; or
• Directly through an issuer, agent or broker

You can also get in-person help at https://localhelp.healthcare.gov/

Need to know more? Here’s a quick one-pager on the most important things to know about the Health Insurance Marketplace. And you can learn more about how the ACA impacts people at risk for or living with HIV/AIDS by reading our fact sheet on the ACA and HIV/AIDS.