The Medicare open enrollment period is already well underway, as is the healthcare enrollment for people who receive health insurance from their employers and individuals who haven’t yet gone over their current coverage package for 2012 are being advised to hurry up and get started.
For those individuals who haven’t yet missed their window of opportunity for changes in employer-sponsored insurance, the sooner they have a look at their current health insurance and compare it to what is available, the better, because any changes that are made by employers or individuals can have a significant impact on premiums and the benefits paid out in the case that a claim should be required.
Equally, beneficiaries of Medicare are in the middle of their own annual open enrollment period, which began in October and will continue until December 7, 2011. This is the time to enroll in Medicare or make changes to the plan to which you are already a beneficiary, such as obtaining a Part D prescription drug plan, or a Medicare Advantage plan.
Many people are taking this time to wonder whether it is possible to find less expensive coverage than what is being provided through an employer. Though it may be possible, most experts are saying that health plans that are available through an employer will typically offer the best deal. If an individual’s spouse also has insurance through work, it may be worth comparing coverages to see if it makes more sense to be insured separately or together through one plan or the other.
That said, coverage can be mixed and matched, as all family members don’t need to be on the same plan. Typically, healthy young family members can be insured less expensively through insurance that is purchased on the private market.