Chitika

fredag 18 september 2009

Tips For Health Insurance Open Enrollment

By Bart Icles

Whenever it is the time of the year for health insurance open enrollment, companies give out tips to their employees in order for them to make better and well-informed decisions regarding what plans they should avail of, especially if they have families who are relying on their medical coverage. What is open enrollment? Why should employees inform their employees properly about their options? Why should employers choose wisely?

Health insurance open enrollment occurs once a year for all companies. It is the time of the year wherein employers either look for better health care providers if they are not satisfied with their current one or renew their membership with their present provider if they are satisfied with everything they offer. It is a great opportunity for everyone to update their benefit programs in order to suit their medical needs the best. During health insurance open enrollment time, companies enroll their employees as part of their benefits package and, at the same time, health insurance companies does not need to be presented with any underwriting or any evidence about the insurability of those that the companies will be enrolling.

If you are an employee and miss the health insurance open enrollment period, you will most likely not be able to avail of it until the next scheduled period. There are exceptions, however, especially if you have valid reasons, like if you are just a new employee or if you were not able to have it renewed because of unavoidable circumstances. As much as possible, though, to be able to avoid any problems and to be able to have the assurance of having a health care plan that you can turn to in times of medical needs, make sure that you do not miss updating your requirements and pertinent information during health insurance open enrollment time.

Here are some tips to be able to make sure that your health insurance is maximized:

1. Check with your HR (Human Resource) department what the different options you have for yourself and your family in terms of health benefit coverage.

2. Once you have already chosen the health benefit package that would suit you and your dependents best, check when the coverage will take effect.

3. Read the manual about your coverage so that you may fully understand the extent and the limitations of your coverage.

Before you make the decision about which health insurance plan to avail of, you should check if the physicians and the hospitals that you usually frequent are in the network of the plan that you are considering. Making sure that they are within the network will make you save more. Also, you need to make sure that you read thoroughly everything you need to know about all the health plans that are available so that you can make a wise decision. If you have questions, you should always ask the one in charge of your company's compensation and benefits officer so that you can make the best choice.

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