Comments on: 4 Things you should do Before Open Enrollment Closes

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:31:56 +0000

Does an employer have to have an open enrollment BEFORE the new plan year by law? Or, can the employer have the open enrollment AFTER the new benefits plan year has begun? In this instance, our employer raised our medical premiums last year. We believe they will do so again this year. Our new benefits plan year started March 1, 2010 but our employer has yet to announce an open enrollment, nor have then announced what our rates will be for the 2010/2011 plan year.

Help! I need to know when an employer MUST provide the open enrollment. One pay period has already passed. I need

By: boshyd

boshyd — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:39:55 +0000

I have a choice of 2 plans from same insurance company through my employer. Cheaper plan pays most of the stuff 80% while expensive plan covers 100%.
Cheaper plan co-pays are $20 more than expensive plan. Our family is relatively healthy and rarely go to the doctor. We do have a newborn, who is days old. Considering, cheaper plan is $2000 less than expensive plan in 2010, is it better to go with cheaper plan and have a FSA of about $500 or so to take care of higher co-pays, or just go with the expensive plan, and get some peace of mind?

By: Evgeniy

Evgeniy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:40:27 +0000

Medical Health Insurance at me too has changed.Have Transferred in other insurance company. Quality of service became worse. I always watch such changes.

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:44:29 +0000

I always check to see how much (if at all) my rates have changed for medical, dental and vision coverage. If I can’t afford it, I usually switch to a more affordable plan during open enrollment. I like my current dental and medical providers, but costs seem to rise each year and I always take time to do a little research.

By: Honey

Honey — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:51:08 +0000

@ CDI collection agency – I have health insurance in case I develop any health problems – that’s the “it’s better safe than sorry” bit for me. I’m not going to deliberately put myself in a position where the likeliest scenario is that I will lose a bunch of money. I have an emergency fund of several thousand dollars (more than the FSA maximum) and if I something happens healthwise where I spend all that money then I can claim it on my taxes.

This raises a good question, though – an FSA only makes sense if you claim the standard deduction, right? If you know you’re going to itemize anyway, then you can just claim the health expenses then. Or am I missing something?

By: CDI collection agency

CDI collection agency — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:39:33 +0000

Is response to Honey’s comment. Many people develope serious conditions with the same background. Never being sick or ever having a problem before. Its better safe than sorry

By: Making Me a Millionaire

Making Me a Millionaire — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:16:31 +0000

I maxed it out this year with $3k and since we have no kids I had a hard time spending it. Let’s just say I am still scrambling to buy Tylenol, neosporin, eyedrops, pregnancy tests in bulk to use it up. I also went to the chiropractor an insane number of times trying to use it up. Next year I will definitely be lowering it to around 1k or so.

By: G.E. Miller

G.E. Miller — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:41:40 +0000

@ Honey – FSA’s can be used for a number of things including insurance co-pays, eye glasses, contacts, etc. Not just for those with health problems.

By: Honey

Honey — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:18:37 +0000

I think that when my open enrollment happened (August, as we’re state employees where I work) I just renewed all my current coverages, since I didn’t have any problems.

I don’t have an FSA, as I’m a 30-year old vegetarian with no health problems and no plans to have children. If I ever develop a chronic condition, then I’ll spring – but as it stands I’ve been to the doctor three times in the past two years and haven’t had any real health costs to speak of.

By: Health Insurance Providers

Health Insurance Providers — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:11:13 +0000

Also, one thing that few realize is that individual health insurance is much cheaper than a similar group health insurance plan. This doesn’t matter in most cases because the employer will pay for most or all of the employee’s health insurance coverage BUT if the employer doesn’t pay for the spouse or dependent’s coverage then one can save a boatload of money and get close to the same amount of coverage (often from the same insurer too) for much less by opting for an individual plan rather than being added onto the employee’s group plan.