“My business depends on reliable insurance options in New York.”

In 2008, Steve D. decided to quit his job, start his own editing and writing business, and teach in the evenings. He was living in Massachusetts at the time, where that state’s precursor to the Affordable Care Act (sometimes called “Romneycare”) was already in effect. That law allowed Steve to have secure health insurance and focus on his business.

A native New Yorker, Steve decided in 2015 to return to New York City to be closer to family. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, passed a few years earlier, he was able to take his business with him to the Big Apple and still have the health security he’d so valued in Massachusetts. He met with a CSS navigator to make sure he understood the New York exchange and then enrolled in a Gold-level plan on his own.

“The efficiency of the NY State of Health and the availability of a health navigator made the transition from out of state seamless for me,” says Steve. “The survival of my business depends on having reliable, easy-to-understand health insurance options in New York.”

Steve sees himself as part of what some call the “gig economy,” in which people increasingly work for themselves and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities outside the walls of a traditional employer. “Health security is a centerpiece of that spirit of innovation,” says Steve, “and I’m glad that New York State allows it to thrive.”