Workplace Benefits
Open enrollment is an important time every year when employees and individuals can review, assess, and modify their existing benefits or enroll in new ones. For example, open enrollment can be a good time to evaluate your life insurance coverage, update your health insurance to meet your evolving medical needs, or sign up for a new health savings and spending account. Understanding how open enrollment works is essential for making informed choices about your benefits and insurance coverage. Read on to familiarize yourself with the open enrollment process.
During open enrollment, you can enroll in or make changes to health insurance, life insurance, dental insurance, and other employee benefits offered through your workplace or the government marketplace.
These are some common adjustments you can make to your benefits during open enrollment:
Most insurance providers, including government programs like Medicare and individual market insurance plans, have an open enrollment period. If you’re enrolling in insurance and benefits through your employer, you may have access to both employer-sponsored and employee-paid benefits during open enrollment.
Employer-sponsored insurance is purchased by your employer and available to all eligible employees and their dependents. When you enroll, your employer typically pays for some or all of the monthly insurance premiums, and the remainder of the cost is deducted from your pay.
Employer-sponsored insurance can include:
Employee-paid insurance is offered through your employer but you cover the majority of the costs. Typically, these benefits are offered at a discounted rate compared to plans offered outside of the workplace.
Employee-paid insurance can include:
Some insurance options don't have designated enrollment periods. For instance:
Open enrollment dates can vary. Here are some common dates to remember:
Be sure to check with your provider to determine the most current and accurate enrollment dates.
It’s important to prepare during before open enrollment so you can make the best possible decisions for you and your family. Use the checklist below to help you get ready.
If you miss the open enrollment period, you may still have options available, including: