The worst thing you can do with a new insurance plan is to assume that it is just like your previous one. Even if you are paying the same monthly premium, plans can have big differences between them. When you sign up for a new plan, learn it and know your rights and conditions. It can make a big difference in your pocket if you go about a situation the wrong way. For example, you can go to an urgent care center instead of to a doctor for a non-emergency consultation depending on your insurance policy and whether or not you have that sort of coverage.
It’s a difficult field to navigate, but there are certain things that you can keep in mind when you’re looking through policies and are trying to find the one that makes the most sense for you and your family. Here are some tips that you can keep in mind while choosing your next health insurance policy.
- Make sure you enroll in the right time period and mind your deadlines. If you miss the deadlines that are available for you to enroll in your health insurance plan, then you won’t be able to enroll in health insurance for another year.
- You’ll want to look at the different insurance policies and make sure that the quality of that plan is legitimate and is something that you can work with.
- If you get offered the opportunity to auto-renew your plan, then you’ll want to pass on that opportunity because it can lock you into a plan that doesn’t actually work for you. Every year, there are going to be things that change in your personal situation, so keep that in mind when you have to enroll in a new policy.
- Don’t take a replacement plan if it’s offered to you for the same reasons above: your preferences will change and you don’t want to lock yourself into something that doesn’t end up working out for you in the long run.
- Similarly, if you’re laid off from your job, you might not want to automatically accept a COBRA plan if it’s offered to you. COBRA is in place for those who are laid off from their jobs to allow these now former employees the opportunity to stay on the company’s insurance plan. However, you will also have to pay out of pocket for the full price of your insurance.
