Are You Ready for Open Enrollment?

Open enrollment is always my favorite time of year, NOT! I actually used to dread when my husband walked in the door with the yearly open enrollment packets. I did say packets plural. Pages, books, timelines, charts, oh my, It was a bit overwhelming.  Selecting the right health insurance plan may be one of the most important decisions Americans will make this open enrollment period. Yet, many workers do very little research on their insurance choices and plan options. That used to be me. I was like a lot of other Americans.

The 2014 Aflac Open Enrollment Survey found that 41 percent of employees spent 15 minutes or less researching their benefit options during the 2013 open enrollment season; and nearly a quarter (24 percent) spent five minutes or less. Not spending enough time choosing the benefit package that is best for your family, can be a costly mistake. 

As your family grows and you experience life events, like graduations, marriage and illness, you need to pay close attention to your benefit choices.  I learned a hard lesson by making hasty decisions and have had to change the way I address open enrollment choices for our family.  If I want to buy a new TV,visit a new restaurant or apply for a job, I take time and investigate all of my options, I compare the pros and cons and that is the same way I take on open enrollment. It is definitely #TimeWellSpent!

 It’s really important that you carefully review and compare all available benefits information.  Insurance lingo doesn’t have to be confusing, know the terms and make sure you look more deeply at things you don’t understand; such as voluntary insurance, deductibles, out-of-pocket expenses and providers. Take advantage of  meetings with health care insurance agents or brokers to answer questions. Attend on-site seminars, participate in webinars and read the relevant education materials. Knowledge is power!

 Aflac, a Fortune 500 Company, provides individual and group voluntary insurance policies to more than 50 million people worldwide. For nearly six decades, Aflac insurance policies have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. 

Aflac offers accident, dental, life, vision, cancer, hospital intensive care and more voluntary insurance policies. Policyholders are paid directly for unexpected costs associated with a covered illness, injury, or loss; In addition, cash benefits can be used to help pay rent, gas, groceries, childcare or other expenses a worker may have.

More facts about open enrollment, voluntary insurance and corporate insights can be found on the Aflac WorkForces Report website. You can get more information here —-> http://afl.ac/BH6ZR.

How does your family handle open enrollment decisions?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.