The Health Shopper

Earlier this week we reported on open enrollment 2011-2012. Wall Street Journal just came out with a helpful article examining significant aspects of this season’s open enrollment. Here are the highlights:

• Many employees will face increased out-of-pocket expenses, which are the charges they pay for health-care services. Notably, there will be a jump in the use of high deductibles—the upfront sums employees pay before coverage kicks in. To help workers defray those costs, some employers are offering financial incentives to those who make efforts to track and improve their health.

• Employees also will likely see at least small upticks in their monthly premiums for coverage, while some employers are trimming costs by offering a smaller array of doctors and hospitals.
• Even if employees opt for the same plan they had last year, they should watch for changes that might not be obvious, such as having to pay more to use medical providers that are outside the insurer’s network.
• You should delve into the details of plans’ charges before you choose one. Keep an eye out for where you will owe co-insurance, which is a percentage of the cost of care and tends to be more expensive than a flat co-pay, and for fees that may not count toward your out-of-pocket maximum.
• For consumers, a health savings account—which can be set up by people whose health plans meet certain requirements, such as high deductibles—has some advantages over other types of accounts. Unlike a flexible spending account, which is another type of tax-free account linked to health expenses, an HSA’s contents can be held over from year to year. Moreover, an HSA stays with you if you move to a different employer, and it can be used to save for medical expenses in retirement.