3 Tips for Choosing Your Health Benefits for 2023

Annual or open enrollment season is here – a time when more than 7,308,500 people in Arizona and millions of Americans across the country will have the opportunity to select or switch their health insurance plan for the coming year. Open enrollment is a good chance to review how often you’re using health services and decide whether you’ll stick with the plan you’ve got or switch to another being offered. It’s also an opportunity to assess your overall care costs to ensure you’re choosing a plan that will work best for next year’s budget.

For people with coverage from their employer, open enrollment typically happens for two weeks sometime between September and December. Medicare members can enroll or make changes to coverage from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. Most selections made will take effect on Jan. 1, 2023.

Here are three tips to help in choosing a health plan through work, the Exchange Marketplace or Medicare:

1. Don’t forget about specialty benefits. Additional benefits, such as dental, vision, hearing or critical illness insurance, are often available and may contribute to overall well-being.
2. Check for mental health coverage. In addition to in-person mental health care, you may have access to a large virtual network of therapists and psychiatrists. Some health insurers also offer advocacy services to help you find the right type of behavioral health care. Medicare members: Some plans offer virtual mental health care with a $0 copay, including UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage.
3. Look into wellness programs. Many health plans offer incentives that reward you for taking healthier actions, such as completing a health survey, exercising or avoiding nicotine. Medicare members: Many Medicare Advantage plans also offer gym memberships and wellness programs for members at no additional cost.

More helpful articles and videos about open enrollment may be found here.

Heather Kane is the CEO UnitedHealthcare Arizona and George Young is the CEO of Medicare & Retirement at UnitedHealthcare, Arizona.