Open enrollment
The one window each year when some things can change without a medical question. Use it deliberately.
Open enrollment is the annual period when you can change employer benefit elections. Dates and rules are set by each employer and plan and change annually, so get yours from HR rather than from any general source.
What's worth doing with it is fairly consistent.
The feature that makes it valuable
Some coverage can be elected or increased during open enrollment without evidence of insurability — no health questions, no exam.
That guaranteed issue window matters most for anyone whose health would make individual coverage expensive or unavailable. If that's you, this is the most valuable thing on the list, and it's usually capped at a stated amount above which evidence is required anyway.
What to review
- Life insurance elections, basic and supplemental
- Disability coverage, short and long term — often the most under-elected benefit
- Health plan choice against how you actually used care this year
- Dependant coverage, if your household changed
- Accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity add-ons, which are frequently oversold
- Beneficiary designations on every plan, which is the item most often skipped
Compare supplemental life against an individual quote
Group supplemental life is typically age-banded, so the rate rises as you cross into new bands, while an individual level term policy locks a premium for the whole term.
Coverage that looks competitive at thirty may be well behind by fifty. Get an individual quote for the same amount before electing — it takes very little time and the numbers are directly comparable.
The exception is if your health makes individual coverage difficult, in which case take every guaranteed issue amount offered.
Disability is the one people skip
Check the definition of disability, the elimination period, how long benefits last, and whether benefits would be taxable — where the employer pays the premium, benefits are generally taxable to you.
That last point means a policy replacing a stated percentage of salary may replace considerably less after tax than the headline suggests.
The thing to do regardless
Check the beneficiary on every employer plan, including life insurance and retirement accounts. Employer coverage has its own designation, separate from any individual policy, and it's the one people forget after a marriage, divorce, birth or death.
It takes two minutes and it's the highest-value item on this page for most people.
Common questions
Some coverage can be elected or increased without evidence of insurability — no health questions. That matters most for anyone whose health would make individual coverage expensive or unavailable.
Compare it against an individual quote for the same amount first. Group supplemental is typically age-banded and rises over time, while individual level term locks a premium — unless your health makes individual coverage difficult.
Checking the beneficiary on every employer plan, including life insurance and retirement accounts. Employer coverage has its own designation and it's the one people forget.
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This page is general information, not advice about your specific circumstances. A licensed insurance professional can tell you what’s actually available to you.
General information only, not insurance advice. Coverage, availability, and terms vary by insurer and by state, and are subject to underwriting. Quote My Policy LLC is a licensed insurance producer. Nothing here binds coverage.