Baseball is starting its postseason which can only mean one thing. It’s time to prepare to crush open enrollment for 2023 like Aaron Judge crushes fastballs! Open Enrollment for individual health insurance plans is right around the corner. New plans and rates will be rolled out on November 1 if not a few days before and that’s when we will see how the year-round SEP has affected rates and plans.
It’s a good time to get prepared.
Every OE is an opportunity to see if we can better your coverage for the coming year, and while I will do everything possible to help you evaluate your current plan and pick a newer, better plan if needed, there are a few things that you can do to get ready.
Open Enrollment for 2023 Preparation:
If you have a Marketplace plan:
- Evaluate your expected income for 2023.
- List your medications.
- List your doctors.
If you have a Short Term Medical plan:
- Have there been any health issues this year?
- Do you expect any health issues next year?
- Will there be a significant change in your household income next year?
If you have a Health-Sharing plan:
- Are you beyond the exclusion period for pre-existing conditions?
- Will you be needing significantly different coverage next year, such as more robust drug coverage?
- Will the oldest person in your household be entering another decade of life? (ex. 39-40)
If you’re already a client of mine, I will be calling you during the first week of November to go over your current plan(s) and see if you want to change for any reason. If you have any questions before then, feel free to schedule a call with me. If you’re not a current client, feel free to call me as well. I’d be happy to talk!
Six Ways You Can Improve Your Coverage.
There are so many reasons to find and use a health insurance broker you can trust. He or she can help you find and/or improve coverage without costing you extra. So call me already! In the meantime, here are some suggestions for improving your current coverage. I stopped at six, but there are literally dozens!
1. Use supplements
Health insurance isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. A low copay, low deductible plan can have a very high premium. There are often ways of using supplemental policies that would enable you to pay less each month for better coverage. Click here for a video where I go into a bit more detail.
2. Consider small-group coverage
If you own a business—even if it’s a side hustle—you can probably write a small group policy. It may not be cheaper (probably won’t be) but you’re likely to get better benefits and networks.
3. Add dental and vision early
Most every dental plan limits their exposure by graduating benefits or imposing waiting periods or both. Don’t wait to get coverage until you need work done on your choppers or you’ll cheat yourself out of the best benefits!
4. Mix health plans
If everyone but one person in the family is healthy, you might consider putting the person with significant health issues on their own plan separate from the rest of the family rather than trying to compromise between benefits and premium. The kind of plan Billy needs may be too expensive to put everyone on.
5. Consider a MEC plan
Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) plans were created to address the health insurance mandate when PPACA was first enacted. You can still get these plans that mainly pay for doctors’ visits and add this to a regular major medical plan that doesn’t offer doctor visit copays.
6. Dust off your resume.
Hear me out on this one. There are plenty of people out there who have a job primarily if not solely for the health insurance. No matter how much has changed, employer sponsored group plans nearly always offer better benefits and better doctor networks.
So there you have it. Don’t let Open Enrollment take you by surprise this year. Click here to schedule a call with me and let’s get on it!
Your insights are both valuable and well-presented—thank you!