November is open enrollment month for most employer sponsored health insurance plans. This is the time of year when people who are eligible to get health insurance through their job will receive a packet of information about what to expect from next year’s health insurance plan. You should take a lot of things into consideration before signing the paperwork.
Open enrollment happens just once every year. If you miss it, for whatever reason, then you are “stuck”. You cannot sign up for most employer sponsored health insurance plans after the open enrollment period has ended. If you are not eligible for health insurance through your job this November, you might have to wait until next November before you can sign up for it.
There is a great temptation to sign the paperwork for employer sponsored health insurance as soon as you get it. This is due to how difficult it is to find affordable health insurance right now, as well as the shrinking number of employers who will offer health insurance benefits to (at least some) of their workers. Before you sign on the dotted line, take the time to do some research.
Read over the paperwork. You need to know how the new health plan compares to the one that you got through your job last year. You cannot assume that things will be exactly the same. Take the time to find out what your new health insurance plan will not cover this year. Does it cover the prescription medication that you are currently taking? Will this plan cover your spouse, as well as your kids?
This year, the trend seems to be for employers to charge workers more for their health plans than they did last year. Make sure you can actually afford to pay for the new health plan. It is better to find out right now what it will cost than to be shocked, later on, about how much your employer is taking out of your paycheck to cover insurance premiums.
Is your spouse being offered health insurance through his or her employer? Take the time to compare these plans. You might find that one is a whole lot better for you than the other one is. In that case, you might be able to save a little money. Choose the plan that is best, (assuming it will cover both of you), and sign up for that one. Doing it this way could cost less than paying for two, separate, health insurance plans.
Image by Vincent Wagner on Flickr