Everyone should make sure they understand the meaning of terms like deductible, out-of-pocket maximum, in-network and out-of-network. To choose the right plans, you need to understand the vocabulary involved. Remember, open enrollment is more than just health care, it’s an opportunity to review benefits such as life insurance, long-term disability and any other offerings that may help address your personal needs.
Keep an open mind, ask questions and seek financial guidance if available to you – especially if your employer provides a financial wellness benefit. Nancy DeRusso: A good first step is getting familiar with your plan options. Question: What tips would you give someone going through open enrollment for the first time? Here's what experts say about open enrollment ►Open enrollment: Enrolling in health insurance can be like a new language. Since I was clearly a rookie, I chatted with some experts to help me navigate the health insurance landscape: I chose Nancy DeRusso, head of Financial Wellness at Goldman Sachs Ayco Personal Financial Management and Mya Roberson, assistant professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, who is also a chronic disease patient. Before that, I had the good fortune to remain on my parents' health care through the end of the calendar year. This marks my first time enrolling in health care after turning 26 earlier this year.
I had a full day of work ahead of me and after five minutes of tooling around Fidelity to try to understand my options, I was intimidated enough that I decided to put off making my final choices on health care a little longer.īut I knew I needed help with open enrollment. I decided to read over my choices before heading to Trader Joe's. The day before my company had kicked off its yearly open enrollment period, a window of time when people can pick new health care plans, and I hadn't had a chance to look over the offerings yet. on a Wednesday in late November, I'd been working online for nearly an hour to wrap up a few things before running an errand.Ī text from my mom rang in my head: "You are all set up for health insurance now right?"