Maybe you’ve seen a notice or two about open enrollment season for your health insurance. If you’re already insured, you might not think you need to pay attention to open enrollment. But even if you love the insurance you have now, you still need to review your insurance options every time open enrollment comes around.
If you get insurance through your employer, there may be new options for your insurance coverage for the coming year, or your employer may have removed some options. If anything’s changing to your current coverage, you’ll want to switch to comparable coverage. Open enrollment is also the only time each year that you can make changes to your coverage, unless you have a major life event that qualifies you to make changes. You can add a flexible spending account, change your contribution to one, switch plans, add dependents—and you only get a period of about a month during which to do it.
It’s a similar situation if you buy your own insurance, either outright or through the government exchange. During open enrollment, you might find that there are new plans available to you. Oftentimes you’ll find similar coverage, but at a cost that’s more appealing.
Find out when open enrollment takes place for your healthcare plan and make a point to review your current coverage about a month before that period begins. Think about what you like about your coverage—the cost, the convenience, maybe the prescription drug program—versus what you don’t like. Are your doctors in network in your current plan? If not, that’s one big reason you might consider switching things up. But if you go into open enrollment unprepared, you might find yourself stuck with a decision you regret for an entire year.