Photograph Credit: Fotolia

On the heels of getting our important documents organized, I needed to access those records for our open enrollment paperwork.

My parents worked through their open enrollment this summer with an August deadline. Our open enrollment occurs during the fall and continues through October with all changes effective on January 1, 2014.

This process can get frustrating. We dealt with issues this past year when our vision care provider decided to drop our doctor from the plan after our open enrollment period ended last year but before the effective date. Going through appeals, we finally got to see our eye doctor at the price we expected to pay.

Though you plan and prepare, you can only make decisions with the information you have. Prior to making our open enrollment selections, I went through these six steps:

• Step One: Open Enrollment Types

• Step Two: Open Enrollment Options

• Step Three: Open Enrollment Status Quo

• Step Four: Open Enrollment Changes

• Step Five: Open Enrollment Plan Comparisons

• Step Six: Open Enrollment Selections

In Part 1 of this two-part series, I will focus on steps one through three. Steps four through six will publish next week. Let’s begin with step one: open enrollment types.

Step One: Open Enrollment Types

Whether you have annual enrollment, open enrollment, or alternate between the two, you get to make your benefit decisions during a limited time frame. If you ignore open enrollment, then you may end up paying far more than necessary for your medical and personal services.

Our family alternates between open enrollment and annual enrollment. For open enrollment years, we can opt in and out of all our benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and insurance. During annual enrollment years, we are limited to just medical and select insurance changes.

Step Two: Open Enrollment Options

My husband’s employer prepares an insurance newsletter highlighting the options available. This year’s booklet was 12 pages and included all the increases and modifications to the plans available for our choosing.

In using time wisely to make the best decisions for our family, I read the entire booklet to get a full picture of our options. Usually I get this information about a month prior to the open enrollment deadline which gives me time to read it.

I take the booklet to the playground when my kids are playing or read snippets in car line while waiting to pickup my children from school. Choosing blocks of time that work for me, I can usually get through the booklet within a few days to a week.

Step Three: Open Enrollment Status Quo

Before figuring out which options to choose, I start with what we currently have – our status quo. Accessing our current benefits and amounts we pay, I printed a hard copy for our reference which indicated our monthly premiums.

I also chose a current pay stub showing those amounts per paycheck. Seeing the amounts by both the monthly and per paycheck methods helped us determine our financial choices for the coming year.

In using time wisely investing in understanding the open enrollment process, I have found the preparation phase gets easier each year. Being familiar with the procedures, the newsletter format, and knowing our own options helps me better evaluate our situation and needs.

Taking time to educate yourself in your insurance options and needs will give you confidence as you deal with doctor’s offices, insurance companies, and benefits’ administrators. As I appealed our vision benefits this year, I addressed the issues based on the documentation supplied and won. 🙂

If you are in the process of open enrollment, start with the information you have available through your benefits’ administrator. Read any publications provided to determine your type of enrollment and options. Then check your current selections before making any decisions.

Next week, we will look at steps four through six. Happy researching!

Question: What type of enrollment does your employer have?