The end of the year is full of activities. With your calendar filling up with family time, office parties, shopping trips, and Santa visits, the end of the year usually means we’re short on two things: time and money. But taking a moment to review your current benefits can save you some money by taking care of things now instead of waiting for the new year.GET TREATED BEFORE YOUR DEDUCTIBLE RESETS
If your benefits calendar coincides with the calendar year, now’s the time to take a look at it. You may have already met your annual deductible. If you’ve used your insurance this year, you’ve at least made some good progress toward meeting the minimum out-of-pocket expense before your insurance really kicks in. These benefits are yours, bought and paid for. So using them before they recycle could save you some serious money.So let’s say you have to brace yourself to stand or you suffer back pain when you wake up in the morning. If you put off having a doctor examine you until 2017, you could end up paying the full amount for that exam. If you get your visit in before the end of December, your insurance could likely cover a significant portion of that amount.
USE UP YOUR EXISTING FSA CONTRIBUTIONS
Your Flexible Spending Account (FSA) through your employer is where you may have elected to have some of your pre-tax earnings put aside for medical expenses. FSA’s are an excellent way to set aside some cash for additional expenses, but if you don’t use all of your contributions by the end of the year, you could lose them.Your FSA balance is a great way to shore up some loose ends in your health management, including getting some of your lingering issues taken care of. You can also use those benefits to pay for labs, tests, treatments, and prescriptions that may become necessary after you have your issue addressed.
