If you buy your own health insurance, add this important date to your yearend to-do list: November 15.

That's the date open enrollment is available for individual healthcare plans offered through the Healthcare.gov site, your respective health insurance marketplace (https://www.healthcare.gov/medicaid-chip/eligibility/) or independent agents in your community.

If you're working for a company that provides your health insurance, chances are your open enrollment period has already begun. The SHOP insurance marketplace, open to small businesses and nonprofits with 50 or fewer full-time employees, also begins taking online applications November 15.

If you buy your own personal or family coverage, don't wait until November 15 to start planning your 2015 coverage decisions - do it now.

Here are six things you should know to get started:

1. Timing is tight. Last year's health insurance enrollment process lasted six months. This year, it's only three - November 15 to February 15. You may be able to enroll outside of those dates if you're facing a major life change like a divorce, birth of a child or marriage; otherwise, that's your window.

2. Sticker shock is a possibility. Obamacare didn't guarantee cheap healthcare coverage; it guaranteed available healthcare coverage. Keep in mind that if you bought health coverage last year, your insurer will automatically re-enroll you on December 15 for new coverage effective January 1. However, that's no guarantee that your monthly premium will stay the same. Some experts are predicting only modest increases (http://www.cnbc.com/id/102055144#.), but depending on where you live, your premiums might go up or down. And if your 2013 carrier grandfathered your 2014 coverage, those changes may go well beyond price.

3. Your doctors and hospitals might change. Hospitals and physician practices scrutinize the state of the health insurance market very closely. Their income depends on it. In 2013, some medical practices made news by dropping insurance plans altogether and accepting only cash or credit; others changed the insurance plans they would honor. Something to keep in mind: the best way to confirm that you'll still have access to your favorite doctor and hospital choice is to pick up the phone. Your doctor's website may list the particular insurance plans his or her practice may accept, but don't expect the list to be current. Call your practitioner or their business office to confirm they're sticking with your plan or any you've chosen to use instead. You don't want to be surprised with enormous out-of-network costs later.

4. Planning future health needs is important. If in the next year you're planning to expand your family, undergo elective surgery or other factors that could affect how you'll use the healthcare system, query the plans about specialists, prescriptions and other specific services before you sign up. It could save you thousands in potential out-of-pocket costs.

5. Coverage isn't immediate. Depending on when you enroll during the open enrollment period, your actual coverage may not start until two to six weeks later. Check effective dates of coverage for every plan you're evaluating to make sure the timing addresses your particular needs.

6. You can get help. Personal referrals from friends and fellow professionals to particular plans and agents are always a good way to start your enrollment search. There may also be nonprofit assistance within your community or state to help you evaluate individual plans. On the national level, nonprofit Enroll America runs a nationwide site (http://www.enrollamerica.org/resources/in-person-assistance/) with specific tools and resources for help in your search.

Start now to build a good toolbox full of online and personal resources to help you with your 2015 health insurance search.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL, PERFORMED AS A SOLO SHOW, NOVEMBER 28-DECEMBER 14.

November 7, 2014 - Iowa City, Iowa - This holiday season actor Tim Budd will perform Paul Morella's solo adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", November 28 to December 14 at Riverside Theatre.   Ron Clark will direct. Audiences will get to experience the unforgettable characters and vivid imagery of this ghost story through Dickens' own words in the style that was originally intended. The experience will be made complete with live music by fiddler Tara McGovern (of The Beggarmen).

A CHRISTMAS CAROL runs Thursday-Sunday, November 28 - December 14, 2014.  Tickets: Adults, $28-30; Riverdog Pass Holders, $25; Youth, $18; Student Rush, $20.   Details at riversidetheatre.org, or by phone at 319-338-7672.   Riverside Theatre is located at 213 N. Gilbert Street, Iowa City, Iowa.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL is the fourth show of Riverside's 34^th season of professional theatre.

ABOUT THE RIVERSIDE SHOW

Tim Budd, who performed the solo show "The Santaland Diaries" at Riverside Theatre in 2012, takes on the role of Dickens and the voices of his characters from Scrooge to Tiny Tim.

Live music by fiddler Tara McGovern adds an extra richness to the experience. Tara McGovern has been performing across the Midwest with the traditional Irish band The Beggarmen since 2004 and holds a degree in music therapy.

Lighting design for A Christmas Carol is by Jessica Fialko, with period costume design by Osean Perez.  Violet Virnig is the scenic coordinator.

A HISTORY OF THE STORY ON THE PAGE AND ON THE STAGE

Originally Dickens published "A Christmas Carol" as a novella in 1843, during Victorian era Britain in a time that Christmas tradition nostalgia was strong and new customs, such as Christmas trees and holiday greeting cards, were being introduced.

The story centers around a bitter miser, Ebenezer Scrooge and his change into a warm, generous man after being visited by the ghost of his old business partner Jacob Marley, and three spirits: the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come.

The story is so popular that it has never been out of print, and has been adapted to film, stage, opera and other media.  The book was adapted to the stage almost immediately, with 3 productions opening in 1844.  Dickens decided that the best way to reach audiences with the story was through public readings and he prepared an abbreviated version of the tale for that purpose.  His very first public reading of any story was of "A Christmas Carol" in 1853.  The public readings were incredibly successful and he performed the story 127 times, until the year of his death in 1870.  "A Christmas Carol" was also his final performance.

Contemporary actor Paul Morella, in a desire to take "A Christmas Carol" back to its public performance roots, adapted the story to a one-person show using Dickens' own language. Morella himself performs the show at Olney Theatre Center in Maryland.

TIM BUDD BIOGRAPHY

Tim Budd most recently performed the role of Buddy in Kimberly Akimbo.  Last season he played Iago in RTP's Othello and acted in Riverside's Gilbert Street productions of Walking the Wire:  Merge, Good People, and Birth Witches, as well as directing Coming of Age in Chore Boots.  Other recent work includes acting in Hancher's production of Working Group Theatre's new play Out of Bounds. An Iowa native, Tim finished his studies towards an MFA in acting at the University of Iowa and works full-time at Prairie Lights Books.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Fri 11/28, 7:30pm

Sat 11/29, 7:30pm

Sun 11/30, 2:00pm

Thurs 12/4, 7:30pm

Fri 12/5, 7:30pm

Sat 12/6, 7:30pm

Sun 12/7, 2:00pm

Thurs 12/11, 7:30pm

Fri 12/12, 7:30pm

Sat 12/13, 7:30pm

Sun 12/14, 2:00pm

RELATED EVENTS 

Thursday Theatre Talk: November 20, 5:30pm at Riverside Theatre with host Miriam Gilbert and special guest Professor Garrett Stewart.  The theatre talk is free & open to the public. 

Post-performance Talkbacks:  Sunday, November 30 & Friday, December 5.  Stay after the show on these dates to discuss the play with the actors.

The Old Creamery Theatre Announces 2015 Studio Stage Line-Up

Tickets: $30 for adults, $18.50 for Students, $12 Student Rush Studio Stage shows are on Thursdays and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. and on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.

Billy Bishop Goes to War

April 9 - 26, 2015

By John Gray and Eric Peterson

From a rowdy, unruly, and impetuous youth to a respectable, venerated veteran, Billy Bishop Goes To War follows a boy's journey into manhood. Canadian WWI fighter pilot, Billy Bishop, defies all expectations and becomes a top ace ? a " hero in the sky." With laudable historical accuracy and catchy tunes, this play illustrates Bishop's intimate thoughts about his odyssey through the turbulent trials and tribulations of war.

Heroes

July 2 - 19, 2015

By Gerald Sibleyras (Translated by Tom Stoppard)

Winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy! A quirky quartet comprised of three elderly WWI veterans and a stone dog statue, spend their days occupying the terrace of an old soldiers home in France in 1959. The three men share stories, memories, and ideas of varying mental clarity. Troubled over their monotonous lives, they hatch an escape plan ? destination: Indochina or just over the nearest hill. Heroes is a touching and achingly honest portrayal of what it means to be a survivor.

Waiting for the Parade

August 20 - September 6, 2015

By John Murrell

Struggling through life at home during WWII, five women brave unique battles. Waiting for the Parade offers a rare glimpse into the effects of war on those left behind. Mirroring the spectrum of emotions that soldiers would likely possess, each woman feels differently about the war, whether it is pride, worry, or loneliness ? each woman must combat adversity, crisis, and pain.

Churchill

May 28 - 31, 2015 and October 1 - 4, 2015

By Andrew Edlin

This is a gripping one-man play about famous British statesman, author, orator, journalist and soldier Sir Winston Churchill.   It is April 1955. Churchill, aged 80, after entertaining the Queen and Prince Philip for dinner at No. 10 Downing Street, agonizes in his wartime bunker below London whether to finally resign as Prime Minister as the Cold War gathers pace. He is old, tired and losing his grip. As he tries to decide, he rolls back the years and reviews his uniquely eventful career, filled with history-changing events and famous people, glorious speeches, pithy comments, funny stories, and all the wit and wisdom that has made Churchill beyond merely one of history's greatest figures into an imperishable legend.

The Old Creamery Theatre is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1971 in Garrison, Iowa. In 2015, the company will be celebrating 44 years of bringing live, professional theatre to the people of Iowa and theMidwest.

Ceremony at Old State Capitol Recognizes the Top Student from Each College and University in Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - Governor Pat Quinn today announced the state's exceptional college students who will be honored by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois on November 1. The Academy will recognize students at the top of their class during the annual Student Laureate Convocation at 11 a.m. Saturday, November 1 at the Old State Capitol State Historic Site in Springfield.

"I want to commend these students for their hard work, both in the classroom and in their communities," Governor Quinn said. "Their achievement and dedication attests to the value of higher education in Illinois, and the high quality students our schools produce."

The Lincoln Academy's Student Laureate Awards are presented for excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities to seniors from each of the state's four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities, and one student from among the community colleges in Illinois. At the Student Laureate Convocation, each student will receive a Student Laureate Medallion, along with a $1,000 educational grant and a certificate of achievement. This is the 40^th year Lincoln Academy has celebrated students' excellence in Illinois.

Student Laureate Katie Landgrebe of Northwestern University will speak on behalf of all the Laureates. The invocation will be delivered by Dr. Robert Gervasi, President of Quincy University, and the benediction will be delivered by University of Illinois Springfield Chancellor Dr. Susan Koch. The Sangamon Woodwind Consort will provide music, and a luncheon at the Illinois Executive Mansion will follow the Student Laureate Convocation.

The Lincoln Academy, unique among the 50 states, was established more than 50 years ago to honor distinguished citizens with the state's highest award, the Order of Lincoln. The 52^nd Annual Convocation and Investiture of Laureates of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois will take place Saturday, May 9, 2015 at the Illinois State Capitol in Chicago.

The names and hometowns of the students to be recognized on November 1are listed in the attached document.