BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — It's open enrollment season, and your inbox is probably flooded with reminders from HR to complete it.
"Don't wait," said Brian Murphy, a partner at Lawley LLC, in Buffalo. "Everyone likes to wait until the last second."
Lawley said to leave yourself enough time to thoroughly look at the future coverage you, and any dependents might need. He said an average person spends only 18 minutes to make open enrollment decisions.
While you can't predict the future of what medical, dental, or vision coverage you will need, Murphy suggested a few key points for smart selections:
- Choose a high deductible plan if you're overall healthy, and don't have high cost prescriptions
- Choose the premium plan with lower deductibles and copays, if you go to the doctor often. Murphy said just know this could mean you pay more for prescriptions out of pocket before you hit the deductible. Murphy said you can ask your pharmacy the costs of medication.
- Consider a Health Savings Account (HSA), flexible spending, and supplemental medical coverage plans too as a way to save during inflation
What you decide to contribute to your HSA will go into the account tax free. Murphy called it "free money," and said you can earn interest and even invest with HSA.
"There’s not a better vehicle on the tax side," said Murphy. "It's all about understanding how much you can afford to put in there."
For supplemental health coverage plans, those are voluntary programs.
"Many employees are offering critical illness, accident, hospital coverage," said Murphy. "If you have a larger family, and have active children like I do, you definitely could utilize those coverages."
Murphy also said it's important to know that pet discount plans are not the same as pet insurance.
He also said to know what medical providers are in your network, especially if you or your children are seeking treatment out of town.
"Here in Western New York we're lucky that most of local carriers have very robust networks," said Murphy.
