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Benefits Open Enrollment Checklist

Medium 24 items · 2 hours
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testuser Published 1 week ago
Personal Finance

Many US employers with a January 1 plan year hold open enrollment in October or November. Use that window to choose a medical plan, set your FSA or HSA amounts, and check the life insurance and beneficiaries you set up years ago.

What you pick usually holds for the whole plan year. Once the window closes, you can normally change a health plan only after a qualifying life event, such as getting married, having a baby or losing other coverage. Your employer’s benefits guide sets the real rules and deadlines.

Doing nothing is also a choice. Many employers roll last year’s medical elections forward, but a health care FSA usually needs a new election every year, so someone who skips enrollment can start January with no FSA at all.

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  1. Find your enrollment deadline and put it in your calendar
  2. Read what your employer changed for next year — Look for a summary of changes in the benefits guide or portal. Plans get dropped, renamed or repriced.
  3. Find out whether you must actively re-enroll — Some employers carry your choices forward if you do nothing. Others put you in a default plan or leave you with no coverage.
  4. Write down the changes you expect next year — A baby due, a planned surgery, a child turning 26 or a spouse changing jobs can each change which plan costs least.
  5. Add up what each medical plan would cost you for the year — Take the premium per paycheck times the number of paychecks, then add what you expect to pay toward the deductible and coinsurance. For in-network care, the year's premiums plus the out-of-pocket maximum are your worst case.
  6. Check that your doctors, hospital and pharmacy are in network for each plan
  7. Look up each prescription on every plan's drug list and note its tier
  8. Compare any HSA-eligible plan with the others — You can only put money in an HSA with an HSA-eligible high-deductible plan. A general health care FSA, yours or a spouse's that covers you, also blocks HSA contributions, while a limited-purpose FSA for dental and vision does not. Count any employer HSA contribution against that plan's higher deductible.
  9. Choose a health care FSA amount, if your employer offers one — Base it on costs you know are coming, like new glasses or a planned procedure. Check whether your plan has a grace period or a carryover, since money left over after that is lost.
  10. Consider a dependent care FSA if you pay for childcare — It covers care such as daycare and after-school programs for children under 13, not medical bills.
  11. Check whether covering your spouse adds a surcharge — Some employers charge extra to cover a spouse who could get insurance through their own job.
  12. Confirm everyone on your plan is still eligible — Children can usually stay on a parent's plan until they turn 26.
  13. Compare the dental and vision plans with what you used this year
  14. Review your life and disability coverage
  15. Update your beneficiaries — A beneficiary form generally decides who gets that money, whatever your will says. Check it after a marriage, divorce or birth.
  16. Decide on extra life insurance now if you want it — Adding it later can mean answering health questions.
  17. Skip add-on policies that repeat coverage you already have — Accident, critical illness and hospital plans pay fixed sums. Compare them with your medical plan's out-of-pocket maximum first.
  18. Complete any wellness step that lowers your premium — Some employers want a screening or a form done by a set date.
  19. Check your retirement contribution rate while you are in the portal
  20. Submit your elections before the deadline
  21. Save or print the confirmation page
  22. Check the confirmation for wrong names, birth dates or missing dependents
  23. Check your first paycheck of the new plan year for the right deductions
  24. Use the new ID cards from your first appointment of the year — If they have not arrived, most insurers let you download one from their app or website.
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