Open Enrollment Checklist: 5 Things to Check Before You Pick

Open enrollment is the time each year when you can pick or change your health plan. Once it ends, you're usually stuck with your choice for the whole next year. The only exception is a big life change, like getting married, having a baby or losing other coverage.

So it pays to take a few minutes and check these five things.

1. Check your doctors

Are your doctors in the plan's network? Plans can change their networks from year to year. Even if you keep the same plan, look again. Use the insurance company's online search tool, or call your doctor's office and ask, "Do you take this plan?"

2. Check your medicines

Every plan has a list of the medicines it covers. This is called a formulary, or drug list. Look up each medicine you take. See how much it will cost on each plan. A medicine that costs $10 on one plan might cost $100 on another.

3. Check the total yearly cost

Don't just look at the monthly cost. Add up:

• A year of premiums

• What you think you'll spend on care

Then check your worst case: a year of premiums plus the out-of-pocket maximum. Our cost estimator can help you do the math.

4. Check your savings account options

Your plan choice affects which savings accounts you can use:

• Picking an HDHP? You may be able to open a Health Savings Account (HSA). Find out if your employer adds money.

• Want an FSA? You usually have to sign up again every year. If you don't, your FSA stops.

Decide how much to put in for next year. Base it on what you expect to spend.

5. Check the deadline

Missing the deadline can mean you're stuck with a plan you don't want, or no plan at all.

• Through work: Your employer sets the dates. Many hold open enrollment in October or November. Ask HR if you're not sure.

• Through the Marketplace: On HealthCare.gov, open enrollment for 2027 runs November 1, 2026, to January 15, 2027. Sign up by December 15 for coverage that starts January 1. Some states that run their own sites have different dates.

Meet Jamal

Jamal almost kept the same plan without looking. Then he checked his drug list. His asthma inhaler had moved to a higher price tier, going from $25 to $90 a month. He switched to a different plan where it cost $30. That one check saved him $720 for the year.

Key takeaways

• Open enrollment is usually your one chance each year to change plans.

• Check your doctors, medicines, total cost, savings accounts and deadline.

• Look again every year, even if you plan to keep the same plan.