There’s been a lot of talk about health care and health insurance lately…way too much if you ask me. This article is about health insurance, but not the Obamacare proposals or the legislative process that is taking place in Washington. This is for anyone who receives their health insurance through their employer.

It’s the time of year when you will be receiving your benefit election package to make your choices for next year. I will address some of the changes you can expect as you get ready to make those elections.

Too many people just default to their current option when making their choice each year. Doing that this year would be a mistake that could end up costing you a lot of money. You may be faced with several choices and/or changes in your employer plan. Maybe this is the year you finally enroll in that Flexible Spending Account, or maybe even a Health Savings Account.

You probably are not going to see any major changes to the overall design of your plan because employers are waiting to see what comes out of the health care debate in Washington. But, there’s no doubt that you will see some changes.

The first change is no surprise. You are going to pay more for your coverage. If you are in an HMO or a PPO, you can probably expect your out-of-pocket costs, which includes premiums and co-payments, to increase about 10%. And make sure you check on your deductibles. Many are going up by $50-100…or more.

You will also want to look closely at your dependent coverage…if you have dependents. Many companies are making changes to the coverage rules for dependents. Some are raising premiums on working spouses. Others are eliminating coverage for spouses and dependents.

You’ll probably feel more of a push to take on a higher deductible plan, which I am personally in favor of. They simply cost less…about 20% less than a standard HMO or PPO and they force you to take more responsibility for your own health care. These plans have a high annual deductible; usually $2500 to $5000. They are less expensive because the insurance company is not paying for all of your smaller health care expenses…they are protecting you from the catastrophic. That’s what insurance is supposed to do.

A lot of companies will make contributions to a Health Savings Account (HSA) if you take the higher deductible plan. Those contributions can help offset some of the costs you may incur due to the higher deductible. An HSA lets you pay for health care costs on a tax-favored basis. And if you don’t use all of the funds in your HSA in the year, they stay in your account for you to use in the future.

If you work for a larger company, you may see fewer plan choices. Many companies that have employees in a number of states are consolidating their health plans into one or two national carriers, instead of several state, or regional carriers.

You will probably also see a bigger push towards going generic. In an effort to steer employees toward lower health care costs, many employers will increase the co-pay on brand name medications and make generic drugs more affordable. Some are even requiring that you pay a percentage of the cost of brand name drugs, instead of using your co-pay.

You’ll probably also see an increase in attention paid to wellness programs. Smoking cessation and weight loss plan or programs are a couple of examples. If employers can help make you healthier, you’ll be less expensive to insure.

And finally, we’re hearing more about plan audits. This is another cost-savings strategy that companies are using to make sure that only eligible dependents are covered by the plan. You may be asked to verify your children’s ages or your marital status. Most policies only cover your kids until age 19, or 23 if they are in college.

The idea behind the audits is a good one. They have found that 5-8% of covered people are actually ineligible. The problem usually isn’t fraud; it’s just confusion on who should be covered. Most of the “ineligibles” that have been caught are college graduates still living at home. This is why we’ll also see coverage guidelines that are much more specific for next year.

This article captures the major changes you may see in your benefit package. I’m sure there will be others. It is very important to pay close attention to the choices you are offered. Not doing so can be very costly. And, as I mentioned, your cost are going to go higher anyway, so you need to control what you can control.

Photo by: Adrian Boliston