Ugh its time for Open Enrollment… #BeSmartAboutYourHealth

It is the time of year that I dread, and I know I’m not alone.  It is Annual Enrollment time at my husband’s work for our health insurance.  It has never been an easy process as it seems to change every year, the wording is vague, and with a growing family it is tough to make sure we are covered completely.

Well thanks to Twittermoms, I learned about Be Smart About Your Health, which is an online consumer education site developed by Aetna.  It gives the tools and “know-how” to consumers on how to save time and money while making smart health decisions during Open Enrollment and throughout the year.  On the site is an article entitled “Power of an Hour” that I found helpful.

Five tips I learned from the article:

• First, sit down and decide what’s most important for you and your family.  Think about prescriptions, referrals, dental, and vision.  I usually sit down with my husband and we go through the Open Enrollment book and make notes on what’s important and we want to make sure we have and how much anything is going up.
• Check into “wellness incentives.”  They can save you hundreds of dollars a year if you exercise, eat well or take part in stop-smoking programs.  My husband’s work actually offers this and we earn a $500 credit in a Health Savings Account just for see the doctor and getting a complete physical each year!
• Save receipts for all Flexible Spending expenses and put them in right away.  These items are usually contacts, prescriptions, over the counter medicines, and co-pays.  I keep an envelope and luckily stores like CVS and Walgreens designate which items are Flexible Spending items.  I save the receipts in case I have money left over at the end of the year.
• Think about a Flexible Spending Account for health expenses.  For example, putting aside $2000 in a FSA can save someone making $25,000 a year about $450!  It is pre-tax money.
• Finally, make sure you can afford the premiums.  With the new rules for Health Care, no one knows exactly what will change so make sure you can afford your premiums before committing.  I know I really had tough time last year deciding between plans because the plan we were on was going up $80 a month so I had to decide if it was worth it in the long run.

Overall, Open Enrollment can be a pain but if you go slow and make sure you read everything it should be fine.  I am fortunate that my husband’s word finally game out with a very user-friendly book this year that outlines everything and the website we enter it all in is pretty easy too.  I would recommend checking out the Be Smart About Your Health to ease any concerns and get some expert advice on how to manage your plan and spending.

Mama’s Money Savers Disclosure:  I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Aetna blogging program, making me eligible to get a $30 Target gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.