Are you ready for Open Enrollment?  I’m not one who likes to discuss insurance or do paper work but I’ve come to understand that it’s an important, or even essential, part of life.

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Aflac. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

Even though I hate discussing insurance and the thought of doing paperwork gives me chills I know it’s important to have the best health insurance possible for my family…and I let me husband take care of the paperwork.

I felt confident in my knowledge of our health insurance coverage, until that is, all this talk about health care reform.  Understanding the requirements of health care reform is crucial to knowing how it will affect me and my family and how we can plan for the future.  Our family is fairly healthy but if we didn’t have insurance we would be hurting!

Aflac shared with me a few startling statistics that I want to pass on.

The 2013 Open Enrollment Survey found that:

• – 74% of workers sometimes or never understand everything that is covered by their insurance policy today.
• – Now, nearly 4-in-10 (37%) workers think it will be more difficult to understand everything in their health care policy with the changes dictated by health care reform.
• – Nearly a third (28%) of employees are confused, worried or simply unsure about the change their employer is making to their health care coverage or benefits options due to health care reform. {Surely that number is higher, right?}
• – 60 percent of workers have not begun to educate themselves about coming changes to their benefits package due to health care reform. {Now that I believe!}

Here are a few things that can help you to better understand your insurance coverage and make sure you have the best plan for you and your family.  I’m definitely going to share these tips with my husband so we can discuss our plan.

Aflac’s Top Tips:

• – Prepare ahead of time: Be aware of annual insurance policy changes and compare your new benefits package to your policy from the year before. Do your homework to ensure you choose the right policy that fits your family’s needs and make sure that all of the health insurance costs you’re responsible for are within your budget. Also, review the deductibles and additional out-of-pocket costs for health care services and pharmacy purchases you’ll be responsible for paying to ensure your plan offers the coverage you need.
• – Don’t make assumptions:  Ask your HR manager if your policy options changed to include new benefits made available by health care reform.
• – Check your spouse’s benefits package: Your employer doesn’t have to offer insurance to your spouse and as costs increase, more companies are cutting this option. Even if your employer does offer your spouse insurance, the company is not obligated to pay anything toward the premium. If your spouse has access to employer-sponsored health insurance through his or her job, it may make the most financial sense to purchase two individual policies as opposed to one family policy.
• – Don’t double up: Health care reform legislation requires plans in the individual and small group markets to offer essential health benefits like pediatric vision and dental and, chronic disease management services. Check all aspects of your major medical plan so you know what is covered and what isn’t.
• – Examine premium costs carefully: Cheaper isn’t always better, since plans with the lowest monthly premiums likely mean you’ll pay more in co-insurance and receive less coverage.  That may be the perfect plan for your family if you have a savings account built up but make sure you choose the plan that is right for your family.
• – Consider supplemental insurance such as accident, hospital or critical illness plans to help reduce rising health care expenses.
• – Take a look at Aflac’s Open Enrollment Resources.

Open enrollment season is coming soon so take the initiative and make sure you and your family have the coverage you need to maintain your lifestyle even if the unexpected happens.

Do you have any insurance tips to share?  If so, please share them in the comments!