Caregiver considerations during open enrollment

Open enrollment periods surface many important decisions about you and your family's benefits for the upcoming year. It is also a time for family caregivers to consider care for their loved ones, beyond their formal “dependents” (or spouses, domestic partners, children), to ensure they’re leveraging benefits to support the broader family system as well.

What should family caregivers consider during the open enrollment period?

This list pertains to those who may, or may not be qualified dependents eligible for employer benefits.

Medical Plan Coverage

Review your employer’s medical plan offerings for your spouse/domestic partner and dependent coverage.

• If you’re covering a dependent on your employer’s health plan, ensure any changes to the network and or coverage provisions don’t impact continuity of care into the next plan year.

• Wellthy assists with this by helping evaluate plan options (including supplemental options) for those looking to enroll for the first time, performing annual review to ensure the right plan, and providing general education and guidance on Medicare or Medicaid coverage.

• Wellthy helps evaluate health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through the Health Insurance Marketplace, and/or determines eligibility for Medicare or Medicaid.

• Wellthy assists by researching the plan formulary to determine whether current prescriptions will be covered the same way.

• Check to see if your employer offers a legal benefit to help with finding attorneys, services to establish legal or estate planning documents.
• If so, confirm if the plans cover dependents and other loved ones, such as aging parents or in-laws. This would come in handy when preparing to care for others in addition to yourself!

• Review dental and vision benefits coverage for yourself and loved ones to ensure they are set for the upcoming plan year.

• Connect with your loved ones to ensure any life policies include accurate and updated beneficiary information.

• If your loved one has disability insurance, or is receiving disability benefits, confirm that there are no coverage changes for the upcoming year.