Re-Evaluate Your Medical InsuranceFall is typically the time of year that the “open enrolment period” for medical insurance begins at many companies. Health insurance professionals remind us that for your family’s heath and well being, it may be a good time also to reassess your health insurance needs. Under “open enrolment periods” employees are offered the option of keeping their current health benefits or switch to another, perhaps more affordable medical insurance plan. A lot can happen in the span of one-year. But health insurance experts say that most people only take a cursory look at their medical insurance plan, maybe only spending about half an hour, or no time at all, reviewing their healthplan and then wind up just renewing the health coverage they already have. The experts agree that this can sometimes be a big mistake. Failure to take into account the changes that may have occurred in your family and financial circumstances over the past year can end up costing you money. More importantly it can also find you with less than adequate medical coverage. Have you purchased a home or do you have other newly acquired assets that need protecting? Have you gotten married, divorced, dad children,or had children move out? All of these life-changing circumstances can have a major impact on your health insurance needs. It is a given today that from one year to the next if you have employer-sponsored group health insurance, the cost will rise. How much more you will pay will depend on the choices you make. So health insurance experts advise that you become educated. Understand all of your options and if there is something you are not sure about on your company’s health insurance offerings, speak to your benefits advisor. It is important that you make some decision during a company’s open enrollment period if it has one. Even if that is just to select to continue with your present medical insurance coverage. In some companies if you make no choice at all, you will just continue with your present coverage. However in other companies, if you do not make any kind of choice the company is free to move you into a health insurance plan of their choosing, and it may not be one of your liking. 2 CommentsLeave a comment |
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I have a question about enrollment. Is the company required to let employees know when open enrollment is? Four years ago I signed paper stating that I did not need health benefits and since then I have never been approached or advise about benefits offered at company. What are my rights?
Comment by Lori — March 24, 2009 @ 7:26 am
Hi, I have a question about health insurance in Florida. I am a 23 year old part time student and I just lost my parent health insurance because of age limits. I have a part time job in which I qualify for health insurance, but the open enrollment period is in December, so that far away for me. I also need health insurance now and I can’t afford private insurance. I know that you have to wait for open enrollment in most cases, but I did some research and found out that you can enroll outside of the open enrollment period in some cases such as death in the family or if you get married or divorced. So what I am wondering, is if me losing health insurance because of age limits qualify for enrolling now?
Comment by Michael — June 30, 2009 @ 12:21 pm