Tips for folks going through health insurance open enrollment

The clock is ticking for a lot of people to decide what they want to pay and what they want in their health insurance plans.

Open enrollment is underway at a lot of companies and for their workers. Employees have a lot of decisions to make on what they want in any healthcare plan. 

People are advised to set aside time to look at your options and not be rushed or stressed to make any decision. 

Dr. David Becker is an associate professor in UAB’s School of Public Health. “Individuals need to consider what are their expected health needs over the near future deciding what plan is right for them,” Becker said.

Certainly a decision must be made on how much you want to spend. Becker says young people may decide to take higher deductibles or premiums up front because they are healthy, but he says older employees may also consider this.  

“The big thing that goes with a high deductible health plan, it allows you to contribute to a health savings plan and the tax advantage status of these accounts is attractive to higher wage earners in a high tax bracket to get a tax break,” Becker said.  

Becker said there is a disturbing trend in employer sponsored insurance and it’s a trend he expects to continue into the future.  

“We will be bearing more cost where we do get sick. We will be facing higher co-payments and higher deductibles – that is a trajectory we are going in,” Becker said.  

When it comes to life insurance, employees must consider how much they want to spend to lessen the burden on your family for burial or financial support.     

Copyright 2017 WBRC. All rights reserved.