It’s Open Enrollment season which means it’s the perfect time to review your benefits. If you or your spouse work for a company that provides benefits (medical, dental, vision or life insurance), once a year you have an opportunity to re-evaluate your benefits plan and make changes. It’s sometimes known as fall enrollment or open enrollment and for many Americans it’s happening now.
What benefits are included in Open Enrollment?
Open enrollment includes any benefits your employer provides such as health and life insurance, dental and vision care, and other wellness benefits. Additionally, your employer may offer auto and home insurance, legal services, disability insurance, and more.
Not everyone takes advantage of all that is offered during open enrollment. More than 60% of employees made no changes to their plans last Fall.* Unfortunately by ignoring the open enrollment period they may be spending more than they should or missing out on financial savings. Changes in insurance plans especially in light of the Affordable Care Act are important to pay attention to. For instance, you may pay more for prescriptions at your local pharmacy if your company has a mail order prescription plan. Knowing that could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars each year!
How do you choose benefits?
In most cases family member’s choose one spouse’s plan based on cost or the value of services. You may also choose certain plans based on the cost and services offered from more than one employer.
- As you’re re-evaluating your benefits elections, here are some things to think about:
- What would you do in the event you experienced a sudden income loss?
- Did you or your spouse receive a salary raise in the last year? Do you need to update your life insurance policy or disability coverage to reflect the new income?
- Is one or more of your children getting to the age they’ll need dental care or major dental work such as braces?
- Should you put money aside in a health care spending account?
To help navigate the fall benefits season MetLife has created a series of YouTube educational videos called “Stop.Watch.Enroll.”
Look for tools and resources to help you make the most of the benefit options available to you and your family. Some employers offer these tools or counselors to help you understand your benefits, but you can also find tips and calculators from MetLife. They have an easy-to-use life or disability insurance calculator, which can provide instant quotes. When using these tools, you’ll be prompted to answer a few quick questions, and then you’ll received customized recommendations right away.
Have you updated you benefits this Fall yet?
Kelly
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of MetLife. All opinions are my own.
*These stats are taken from the MetLife PSB Fall Enrollment Study 2013
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