Beginning January 14, 2014, Americans will be required to purchase healthcare coverage or be faced with a penalty. With October 1 just over a week away—the date that the open-enrollment period for the new healthcare system opens—associations and businesses throughout the country are doing their due diligence to understand the state and federal exchanges that will make up this new system.

For the 23 million small businesses throughout the country, the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) is introducing new resources they hope will help make that task a little easier.

NASE released an infographic last week, titled “The More You Know,” that offers advice for the small business owners as they prepare for the opening of the federal and state healthcare exchanges.

“Millions of Americans are bracing for the open enrollment period for our nation’s new health care system, and the same goes for countless of America’s smallest businesses, including self-employed and micro-businesses,” Katie Vlietstra, NASE’s director of government affairs, said in a statement. “With limited and incomplete information available about costs, the small business community must be prepared on day one to make the most informed choice for their business and their family. While many small businesses will secure better, more comprehensive health care coverage, it is likely to come at a significantly higher cost.”

In conjunction with the release of the infographic, NASE launched a survey of its members to gauge their feelings about the new healthcare system, their preferences in healthcare options, and their approach to the open-enrollment period. Results from the survey are expected by the end of the month.

These resources are just the latest efforts by NASE to ease the transition for its members to the new healthcare offerings. Earlier this year, NASE released “The Affordable Care Act in Brief [PDF],” a document that outlined how the ACA will affect self-employed persons.

“It outlines the pros and cons of health care coverage small businesses must consider while underlining the lack of information in the public domain about the health care law, the Exchanges and details of enrollment requirements,” the statement said.

All of these resources can be found on NASE’s small business health resource center.

How is your association helping members prepare for the new healthcare system? Share your story in the comments.

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