Are you prepared for open enrollment?

It's almost that time of year again – open enrollment is approaching and it's time to make important decisions for you and your family regarding healthcare benefits. If you're like most people, you'll find yourself asking:

• What health plan option is best for me?
• How much will each health plan option really cost me out of pocket?
• Can I afford the coverage I need?
• How much will I need to save to cover healthcare expenses this year?
• How much should I be saving for future healthcare costs, into retirement?

Where do you begin?

In order to predict your healthcare costs and select the plan that is right for you, here are just a few key terms you should make sure you are comfortable with:

Premium: The amount you pay for health insurance each month.

Deductible: The amount you pay out of pocket for covered healthcare services before your insurance plan starts to pay.

Copay: A fixed amount ($20, for example) that you must pay for a covered healthcare service.

Coinsurance: A percentage of the cost associated with a covered healthcare service that you must pay (20%, for example) after you've paid your deductible.

Out-of-pocket max: The most you'll have to pay out of pocket for covered services in a plan year.

What if you could save 30% on your healthcare expenses?

No matter what health plan option you choose, chances are you will incur out-of-pocket costs this plan year.

Tax-advantaged benefit accounts – such as flexible spending accounts (FSAs) – allow you to use pre-tax dollars to pay for expenses not covered by your health plan.

This means if you plan to spend even a dollar out of pocket on healthcare expenses, an FSA will help you save up to 30% on medical expenses.

Getting to know more about FSAs