Happy open enrollment season!
While there is not much we can do about higher healthcare premiums, one area where we do have some agency is flexible spending accounts.
Figuring out how much to put into your account is always tricky. For example, most of my New York-based doctors do not accept health insurance. (I pay out of pocket and submit for reimbursement.)
About 4 in 10 flexible spending account holders forfeited unused funds in 2024, according to new research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Those who forfeited funds returned an average of $404 to their employers.
If you don’t get healthcare from your employer and buy it on the open marketplace, enrollment for US plans also starts on November 1. But higher premiums already pushed some consumers away.
Affordable Care Act and other individual health insurance plan enrollment fell 18% to 20.5 million members in June, according to health policy research firm KFF, marking the steepest annual decline since 2015 as Americans struggle with rising health insurance costs.
One other item of note: More companies are dropping coverage of weight-loss drugs from their insurance plans. The culprit? Once again, it’s rising costs.
How is all of this impacting you? If you are picking benefits, use a flexible spending account, take weight-loss drugs or buy your own coverage, tell me how you plan to shop this year at onthemoney@thomsonreuters.com.
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