There are about two and a half months between now and the Feb. 15 deadline for anyone to find health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

Over 1 million Americans in the first week submitted applications for coverage in the 35 states that use the HealthCare.gov platform. Last year, when the site experienced much dysfunction, only 520,000 people completed applications in the first month and a half, according to the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services.

If you’re someone who still needs to find a plan, fear not. Plenty of time remains and users are reporting a smoother experience with HealthCare.gov this time around.

Here are five steps to take to get through it all, recommended by Jordan Rickabaugh, the eastern Kansas navigator coordinator for the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved:

1. Check out the website

The first step is to do some snooping. Head over to HealthCare.gov or InsureKS.org, a website to educate Kansans on the marketplace, and get a feel for what’s out there.

Search around for what plans sound right for you. Among the search filters are cost, companies and certain health conditions that need to be focused on. And you can find out if you may be eligible for tax credits based on your income and household size.

2. Evaluate the plan your employer is offering

Whether your employer — or the employer of your spouse or parent — is offering affordable health insurance will impact your tax credit eligibility. If you’re unsure about your employer’s plan, Rickabaugh suggests meeting with your human resources representative to go over a form called the Employer Coverage Tool, which can be found at HealthCare.gov.

If your employer is offering a plan that is considered affordable (it covers at least 60 percent of health costs) then tax credits are a no-go.

“That’s a great way to assess the coverage that’s offered to them through their job to see whether or not that meets the (tax credit) standards, and that will give them information on what their next step would be,” Rickabaugh said.

3. Gather your personal information

Of course, you’ll need to provide a good amount of personal information about yourself and the household in which you live: names, birthdays, Social Security numbers, projected household income, tax information (such as filing status and number of dependents), immigration documentation and, if you submit an application over the Internet, an email address to go with the marketplace account you will need to create.

You should also create a list of your doctors and prescriptions and make sure they are covered by the insurance plans you’re interested in. As you window-shop the plans, you can click “Provider directory” and “List of covered drugs” to find out.

4. If you need it, find assistance

If you need guidance, there is a link on HealthCare.gov called “Find local help” that will point you in the right direction. Meanwhile, at InsureKS.org you can see a list of public meetings across the whole state where navigators will be on hand to answer questions.

Navigators and certified application counselors are barred from selling or recommending particular plans, but they can help with application preparation and explain all the insurance jargon. Rickabaugh said her meetings with consumers typically last an hour to an hour and a half.

But not everyone may need assistance.

“Our services are mainly provided to people who are unsure about the website or kind of have questions about insurance coverage in general, but I wouldn’t say someone is disadvantaged by doing it on their own,” Rickabaugh said.

5. Stay organized

By the end of it all you will have assembled quite a bit of paperwork, so the last step is a simple one: Keep it all together.

“We recommend keeping all of you information in a folder so that when you go to renew your coverage for next year it’s all in one place and you can look through it,” Rickabaugh said.