With Open enrollment just around the corner for many insurances and companies, I thought that sharing the mistakes I see being made day in and day out, and what mistakes I see over and over and over again every year will save some people some heartache and major headaches later on.
This is the time to switch plans if you don’t like what you’ve had for the year. And believe me, people do switch if they aren’t happy with the plan they have that year. A few years ago I had the privilege of helping during the open enrollment period one year for Medicare and it was a truly eye opening experience. It was fast, it was busy and it was crazy. I worked 7 days a week during that entire open enrollment period for Medicare’s open enrollment dates of October 15th thru December 7th. Here’s some things I learned that will help others during open enrollment as a housekeeping type thing:
Write legibly. I saw some of the worst handwriting I have ever seen that could rival a doctor’s. And I read doctor’s writing a lot while I’m coding off the notes from the visit. If the person processing the paperwork can’t read it, it’s heading back to you along with fresh forms to fill out again simply because nobody could read your handwriting! You’ve now lost precious time getting the new paperwork in before the deadline. Is the headache of all that worth nobody being able to read your handwriting the first time??
If you need to, type the information. In this day and age of computers, sometimes it’s easier to type it out instead of filling it out by hand. If your family can’t read your handwriting, this is a good option to do so people will be able to read the forms you filled out for coverage.
Use black ink- It even says on the paperwork write in black ink...I’ve seen purple ink, red ink, green ink, neon orange and a hot pink ink color. If you name a bright color ink not usually seen on paperwork, I have probably seen different bright colored inks on insurance paperwork at least once over the years of my educating people on open enrollment periods. All that does it get you your paperwork sent back with fresh forms and a post it note stating you have to do black ink before it can be processed. While I was doing the open enrollment for Medicare, I had one lady argue with my supervisor that her paper work said to use blue ink, technically, she had used a blue ink which showed she had indeed followed the instructions…… we just couldn’t get it through her head that electric blue ink wasn’t an acceptable blue ink color. My supervisor walked away from that confrontation shaking her head all the way down the hall back to her office.
If you aren’t happy with that year’s plan….speak up. Insurances want to know why your leaving. If mass people are exiting a particular plan, believe me, the insurance is gonna sit up and take notice. The plan won’t improve if you don’t alert the insurance on why that particular plan didn’t work for you. Insurance agencies hate being kept in the dark on things that aren’t working, just like the rest of us. Seriously, if there is a problem you had with a particular plan, speak up so the insurance people can fix the problem with that particular policy if they can!
If your using a gel pen, wait til it dries before folding up the paperwork to mail it in. It smears like crazy if you don’t let it dry first. If you have to wave your hand or blow it dry, that’s perfectly alright. It just looks terrible when it smears all over, making your writing become illegible and you have to fill out the paperwork and have to send it back in again for it to be processed in time by the end of open enrollment.
When it comes to talking to people on the phone during the open enrollment period, it pays to be kind. Nobody wants to be yelled or screamed at. The people processing your paperwork talk to you to make sure everything is in order for a smooth transition to January 1st when the new plan starts, they deserve to have some kindness. Being nasty to people who are working 7 days a week to get your paperwork processed in time for a January start date is not going to win you any brownie points!
- Check on if your insurance policy will even still be around for the coming year.
- Check on what policies are available if yours isn’t
- If the company goes with a different insurance plan for the coming year, make sure the one they pick can still cover what YOU need to have covered.
DON’T BLOW IT OFF!!! I see this so many times, and it still makes me shake my head when I see another patient has blown off the open enrollment….again. It creates a headache not only for me in the back office, it’s a bigger headache for the patient. Don’t believe me? Here’s one of the examples from my time in the back office…I’ll call him the Scotsman. The Scotsman was a patient who had been coming for years and years. Well, one year, he quickly discovered the doctor’s office no longer took his insurance and since he hadn’t signed up for new insurance, I couldn’t even offer what doctors did take his insurance in the town we were in. So he stayed with our doctors. That was a LOOOOONG year for the Scotsman. He ended up paying out of pocket something like $120,000+ out of his own pocket if memory serves me correctly, because there were a couple surgeries that year, and he had to pay the ENTIRE cost. It wasn’t pretty. The Scotsman kept swearing A LOT in that lovely Scottish brogue of his for that entire year, I just quietly remind him he’d created the situation because he blew it off. When open enrollment finally came around again in October, he asked if I could tag along so he knew what questions to ask. One bitten twice shy. He never blew off another open enrollment period again. He’d learned his lesson. Open enrollment is only for a short amount of time between October and November with the starting date for January 1st. This is your only chance to look over your insurance options. The only exceptions to that rule are if you left the company, had a child join the family, or got divorced or a spouse died. That’s it, end of story.
Check your prescription coverage! Check for price changes and tiers. Different tiers affect pricing on the drugs. Some drugs lose their FDA approved status and check if preferred drugs are covered. You’d hate to find out on down the line your prescription is no longer covered by insurance. That’s a nasty surprise I wouldn’t wish on anybody! Of all the changes I see during open enrollment, this is the biggest change I see every year. I’ve seen so many people cry over the years because they have to switch medicines because insurance no longer covers the old prescriptions, and sometimes they develop allergic reactions to the new medicines. A definite must check on!
Ignorance is NOT bliss! Learn as much as you can about what your employer offers for insurance. It’s much more than medical with a side of dental!
Ask about flex-spending, and dependent benefits( which aren’t just for children, it can be for an elderly relative you care for) These help pay for what insurance covers, and isn’t your family worth that?
Think about the big picture. Think about the insurance you have, and just how much did you use the insurance this year? Make a big list of the care you require or required, and then write down how much insurance you’re going to use the next year ( if you are planning on expanding your family, include those people too, even if you don’t have them here yet. It will save a lot of grief later if you plan ahead, trust me) Most places have online tools to compare plans and costs.
If you decide to switch plans because of a lower cost, your deductible goes much higher and the out of pocket costs are much higher, and it’ll take longer before insurance starts paying. Carefully debate if going with a lesser cost being deducted from the paycheck is worth the higher co-pay costs and higher deductibles you’ll be presented with. And sometimes, the coverage you were planning on, sometimes it’s not going to be covered in most cases. I’ve seen more tears just from this alone over the years being in the back office when most new medical insurance plans start in January of the coming year.
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