Open Enrollment, and Exhaustion

Everyone finds enrolling in health insurance exhausting, but it’s not time to rest yet. Here are a few examples of year-end activities that must be completed before the industry can put the 2022 enrollment season and plan year to bed:

• Carriers issue new insurance cards so that members have them before the plan year begins on January 1
• Employers update payroll files so that employees are charged correctly in the new year’s first paycheck
• Federal marketplace extends open enrollment to give Americans more time to enroll in an Obamacare plan
• Medicare Advantage plans evaluate their ad campaigns and, if unhappy, begin looking for new spokespersons
• Health care providers and health care insurers implement the “No Surprises Act” to protect consumers
• Consumers have eyes examined or teeth cleaned to spend FSA dollars that they must “use or lose” by year end

Consumers whose circumstances have changed may struggle the most at year end. They may be covered by a new health plan at work or enrolled in Obamacare after losing a job. Others may have suffered financially after a health issue. Others still may have aged into Medicare. Change is never easy, especially in health insurance.

But it’s not just about year-end activities. Many in the health insurance industry have already begun planning for 2023. It’s never too early, especially given another year with COVID-19. For exhausted Americans, it’s more important than ever to be Mastering Health Insurance.

Photo: Lions on a lazy afternoon at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Clearly, health insurance is not an issue.