How to Change Your Healthcare Benefits During Open Enrollment

Making changes during annual open enrollment is one of the most important financial and health decisions you'll make as an employee. Your employer lets you update or switch your healthcare benefits, typically once a year, without needing a qualifying life event. Unlike most workplace perks, your benefits decisions during this short window lock in your coverage and your costs for the next 12 months.

At WellthCare™, we've spent years designing a Health-to-Wealth™ system that fundamentally changes how you think about open enrollment. Instead of just picking a plan and hoping for the best, we believe every benefit choice should actively build your health and your wealth. Follow these steps to get through open enrollment with confidence.

Step 1: Understand Your Open Enrollment Window

Open enrollment typically lasts 2–4 weeks each fall. Missing the deadline means you'll likely be locked into your current plan until the next enrollment period unless you experience a qualifying life event (like marriage, birth, or job loss). Mark your calendar and set reminders. At WellthCare, we see too many employees lose out on valuable benefits simply because they missed the window.

Step 2: Review What's Changing in Your Plan Year

Employers often change plan designs, premiums, deductibles, copays, and covered services from year to year. Don't assume your current plan is identical. Look for:

• Premium changes: Did your monthly cost go up or down? Even a small increase adds up over the year.
• Deductible and out-of-pocket maximums: These are your financial guardrails. If they've increased, you may want a different plan.
• Network updates: Are your doctors and preferred hospitals still in-network? Out-of-network care can be far more expensive.
• Pharmacy coverage: Have your prescription drug tiers changed? This directly affects your costs, especially for brand-name or specialty meds.

Step 3: Decide Which Plan Works Best for Your Family's Health Needs

Open enrollment is your chance to match your plan to your anticipated healthcare usage. Start from your actual usage last year: doctor visits, prescriptions, and any procedures you know are coming. Consider:

• Low-usage years: If you're generally healthy and rarely visit the doctor, a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) paired with an HSA may save you money and offer tax advantages.
• High-usage years: If you have planned surgeries, chronic conditions, or regular prescriptions, a plan with a lower deductible and a predictable copay structure may be more cost-effective.
• Family changes: Did you add a new child, or is a family member needing more care? Adjust your plan accordingly.

Step 4: Look for Benefits That Pay You Back

Traditional open enrollment focuses mostly on costs. At WellthCare, we know the best benefits do more. If your employer offers WellthCare, you can enroll in the Health-to-Wealth system as a no-disruption add-on to your existing health plan. During open enrollment, you'll want to:

• Opt into the WellthCare plan: This rewards preventive care and automatically funds a WellthCare Store™ account and a SEP/Pension account when you take preventive actions.
• Check your WellthCare incentive details: You can earn reward dollars and retirement contributions by scheduling preventive scans, labs, and checkups, the care you should be getting anyway.
• Understand the flywheel: Free care used first → less out-of-pocket spending → Store dollars earned → growing retirement wealth. This compounds year after year.

Step 5: Evaluate Additional Benefits Like FSAs, HSAs, and WellthCare Store

Many employers offer Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) or Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) during open enrollment. These let you set aside pre-tax dollars for medical expenses. With WellthCare's integrated system:

• Your FSA/HSA dollars are instantly useful: You can spend them at the WellthCare Store on 3,000+ FSA-approved products aligned to your personal plan of care.
• Your WellthCare Store dollars are separate: They're earned through preventive actions, and you can also use them at the Store to reduce your out-of-pocket costs even further.
• Consider enrolling in both: Set aside pre-tax dollars with an FSA/HSA while also building wealth through WellthCare's automated retirement contributions.

Step 6: Don't Forget About Dependents and Spouses

If you have a spouse or dependents, open enrollment is your chance to add or remove them from coverage. Premiums for family coverage can be significant, so compare your employer's family plan against coverage they could get through their own employer or through a public marketplace. WellthCare's system works alongside any major medical plan, so even if your family is on separate coverage, they can still benefit from the preventive incentives and Store rewards.

Step 7: Use the WellthCare Readiness Index to Plan Ahead

At WellthCare, we provide a patent-pending WellthCare Readiness Index™ after 6–12 months of enrollment. This AI-driven report shows employers, using real usage data rather than assumptions, when and how much they would save by expanding the program. It also identifies:

• Which employees may benefit from WellthCare Medicare™ at age 65.
• Whether your employer should consider WellthCare Complete™, a self-funded option with projected savings of 30–45% versus traditional major carriers.

During open enrollment, ask your HR team if your company offers the Readiness Index. It turns your benefit choices into a data-driven financial strategy.

Step 8: Document Everything and Confirm Your Elections

Once you've made your selections, double-check your online enrollment portal before the deadline. Print or save a confirmation page. This protects you if there's a discrepancy later. Common mistakes include:

• Forgetting to re-enroll in an FSA (many require annual renewal).
• Not updating dependent information.
• Assuming benefits auto-renew. Some plans don't.

Step 9: Watch for Qualifying Life Events

If you miss open enrollment, you may still qualify for a special enrollment period through a qualifying life event (QLE). Common QLEs include:

• Marriage, divorce, or legal separation.
• Birth or adoption of a child.
• Loss of other health coverage (e.g., through a spouse's job change).
• Change in residence that affects plan availability.

You typically have 30–60 days from the event to make changes, so act quickly.

Step 10: Think Beyond Just Health Insurance

At WellthCare, we believe open enrollment should be about more than picking a plan. It's about engineering your financial future. Our ecosystem connects:

• Preventive health actions (free care, scans, labs).
• Instant rewards (WellthCare Store dollars).
• Long-term wealth (automatic retirement contributions).
• Lower employer costs.

By enrolling in WellthCare alongside your major medical plan, you're protecting your health and building wealth every time you take care of yourself. WellthCare is a Health-to-Wealth Benefit System where every preventive action earns store dollars and builds retirement savings automatically, turning healthcare into a wealth-building tool.

What If Your Employer Doesn't Offer WellthCare?

If WellthCare is not yet part of your benefits package, open enrollment is the right moment to raise it. Employers revisit their benefits every year at renewal, and benefits leaders take direct questions from employees seriously. Ask your HR team or benefits broker: do we have a WellthCare Plan? WellthCare works alongside your existing health plan and is used first, so adding it means no disruption to your current coverage. Employees get $0-co-pay care, Store reward dollars for preventive actions, and automatic retirement contributions, while the employer sees fewer claims over time.

Final Checklist for Open Enrollment

1. Confirm your open enrollment dates and deadlines.
2. Review your current plan's changes (premiums, networks, drug tiers).
3. Compare available plans based on your family's health needs.
4. Opt into WellthCare (if available) to start earning Store reward dollars and retirement contributions.
5. Enroll in or update your FSA/HSA for tax savings.
6. Add or remove dependents as needed.
7. Document your elections and save confirmation.
8. Set a reminder to check your WellthCare Readiness Index next year.

Open enrollment can feel overwhelming, but it's also a rare chance to take control of your health and wealth simultaneously. With WellthCare, you don't have to choose between the two. Healthcare that pays you back.