health insurance

Reminder: make sure you've spent the money in your Flexible Spending Account because it will expire in less than two weeks. You're actually allowed to file an extension if you haven't used up all your FSA dollars, but you need to check your company policy to see if they allow that. Don't fret if you can't extend, here are some last-minute ideas to use your FSA money:

• Over-the-counter items: We're not allowed to spend our FSA dollars on over-the-counter medicines without prescriptions but there are plenty of nonmedicinal products that we can still use the FSA money for. For example, band aids, crutches, first aid kits, reading glasses, sunscreen, and wound are all covered under the FSA.
• Acupuncture: Acupuncture is covered by your FSA, so if you have a condition such as pain, consider acupuncture.
• Chiropractic: Your FSA also covers chiropractic visits, so now may be the time to schedule an appointment with your chiropractor.
• Birth control: Many contraceptives are now covered by insurance, but your preferred brand may not be. Use your FSA if your insurance doesn't cover it.
• Glasses and contact lens: Schedule a vision exam and use your FSA dollars to buy a new pair of glasses or supplies of contact lenses.
• Prescription medicine: Buy prescription medicine if it makes sense for you to do so. Most insurance policies will only let you buy a month's supply at a time, so you can't exactly stock up on medicine.
• Copayment: Your FSA will cover the copay for your prescription medicine, doctor's visit, dental visit, and vision visit. So try to go before the end of the year to spend your FSA dollars on copays.
• Laser eye surgery and Lasik: If you've been meaning to get your vision corrected with laser surgery, it's worth considering using your FSA account to do so.
• Medical monitoring and testing devices: If you need a gadget to measure and monitor your blood pressure or ovulation, perhaps it's time to buy one now. Pregnancy and glucose test kits also qualify.
• Therapy. FSA covers therapy if it's for treatment of a medical disorder.
• Massage. Your FSA may cover massage if it's for a treatment of a medical condition, so check with the FSA administrators to see if you qualify.

For a more detailed list on what's allowed, check out this list by WageWorks, and remember to always check with HR just to make certain your expenses qualify. FSA is best used when it covers items that your health insurance doesn't generally pay for. Remember to use them or you'll lose them before the year's up!

There are many changes the Affordable Care Act has implemented that have made a huge difference for women, starting with more affordable contraception, domestic violence counseling, cervical cancer screenings, access to other preventative services like mammograms and Pap tests without having to fork over copays, and more. But there's more good news ahead for us women. Jeanne Lambrew, the deputy director of the White House Office of Health Reform, said in a briefing recently that there are plenty of beneficial changes in store for women in the coming years. Here are some health care advancements women can look forward to:

• More affordable prescription medicine. In 2012, 2 million older women have saved around $1.2 billion on prescription drugs due to the "phasing out of some of our gaps in our Medicare drug benefit," Lambrew says. The administration is working to phase out more gaps, which will mean more affordable prescription medicine for everyone.
• Outlawing denial of insurance because of pre-existing conditions or gender. Come January 2014, the practice of denying insurance because of pre-existing conditions or gender will be banned. This is a big advancement for women, because many of them "pay more for no other reason other than that they are women."
• Tax credits. There will be "premium tax credits" for middle-income women starting in 2014.
• Better maternity benefits. Currently, more than half of women don't get maternity-benefits coverage in the individual market, and if they need maternity coverage, then they will have to pay more. But there's good news ahead for women looking to get pregnant in the future. "Of the roughly 15 million women who have health insurance today in this market, 8.7 million will gain maternity coverage in 2014," Lambrew says.
• No more annual limits. The caps that limit the amount of coverage you receive will be removed in 2014.

Choosing the right health care is important, so LearnVest has created a checklist to help you get the most out of your benefits.

Want to save hundreds of dollars next year? Well, there's an easy way to do so. It just requires paying attention and doing a few easy tasks during open enrollment, the short window of time (sometimes no longer than two weeks) around this time of year when many employers let employees make changes to their insurance policies.

For the most part, you can't change your health care choices at any point during the year, unless you've had a major life change like getting married or having a baby. That's why it's time to act now — if you want to pocket a few extra Benjamins next calendar year.

RELATED: Avoid These 4 Critical Mistakes During Open Enrollment

And our open enrollment checklist will help you maximize the benefits (so you don't waste $750 a year on the wrong ones!).

Know the Deadlines

Call your HR representative to find out exactly when your open enrollment period begins and ends. If you miss this window, you'll end up with the same medical, dental, vision, and life insurance coverage as the year before, but you won't be able to make changes to your accounts or sign up for a flexible spending account, for which you need to re-enroll each year. (More on that below.)

Read on for more.

Health insurance can get complicated since there seems to be a lot of changes. Watch out for these notable changes next year and use these tips from Kiplinger to take advantage of them.

The National Business Group on Health conducts an annual survey of health benefits offered by many of the largest employers nationwide, and it always provides a first glimpse at health-plan changes for the coming year. The big headline is that employers expect benefit costs to rise by an average of seven percent in 2013 — on top of increases of about seven percent in both 2011 and 2012. Sixty percent of employers say they plan to pass along a portion of the increase in the form of higher premiums in 2013; in general, premiums will increase less than five percent. Large employers still subsidize a big portion of premiums, typically covering about 80 percent, leaving employees to pay the remaining 20 percent. The premium split for dependent coverage is usually 70 percent for employers and 30 percent for employees. Smaller companies generally pay a smaller proportion of costs.

Employers are making other adjustments to costs and incentives that may make a big difference in your expenses. Here are some changes to look out for and strategies for making the most of them.

Extra out-of-pocket expenses. Many employers are shifting additional costs to employees: 40 percent plan to increase in-network deductibles, 33 percent plan to increase out-of-network deductibles, and 32 percent plan to boost their out-of-pocket maximums. Also, 13 percent of employers plan to increase the co-payment for buying drugs at a retail pharmacy (with a smaller increase for mail-order prescriptions), and about eight percent plan to increase the coinsurance rate for primary and specialist care (coinsurance is the percentage of the bill you pay yourself). Compare overall costs — premiums, coinsurance rates and deductibles — when picking a policy. And be careful to choose providers and pharmacies that participate in your plan; otherwise, your deductibles as well as your co-payments could be higher.

Read on for more.

It's always better to be safe than sorry, and insurance policies can sure make you feel well protected. However, buying your peace of mind can be quite expensive, so you want to make sure that you're spending money on the right insurance policies. Here are insurance policies you should consider forgoing:

• Pet insurance: If you total the medical costs incurred in a pet's lifetime versus the cost of pet insurance coverage, the policies are often found to be unnecessary, Bob Hunter, the director of insurance at Consumer Federation of America tells SmartMoney. Unlike human insurance, you also have to pay all the costs up front and wait for the providers to reimburse you because there isn't a co-pay system.
• Trip cancellation: If you can't make it to a flight because something came up at work or a pre-existing medical condition, you won't get your money back if you bought a trip cancellation policy. On most of the trip cancellation policies, the reasons that will get you a refund are pretty extreme — you or a family member has to suffer from an illness, injury, death, natural disaster. Unless you invested a lot of money in the trip, you might want to skip this policy.
• Divorce or wedding insurance: If you've been paying for divorce or wedding insurance, you'll be covered if you have the misfortune of canceling your wedding or getting a divorce. This option isn't favored by a lot of the people because of the negative image it, and financial planners aren't fans as well. Glenn Daily, an insurance consultant, tells the WSJ that a good emergency fund would easily foot the expenses that divorce or wedding insurance would cover and describes it as "insurance you could live without."
• Extended warranties: Extended warranties on products are generally something you can do without. In fact, you are probably already protected with the manufacturer's warranty or your credit card company. Consumer Reports found that appliances generally don't break during their warranty period and if it does break down, the price it takes to repair the product will cost the same as warranty.

Read on for more insurance policies you don't need.

Don't get frustrated if your medical claim has been denied and if you're wondering how you're going to pay off the expensive bill, there are still several things you can do to raise your chances of having a successful appeal. Don't take their rejection as a final "no," and do your best to prepare an appeal. If you're feeling overwhelmed, be sure to reach out for help to those around you. Here are a list of contacts you can approach who will help advice you on what steps to take:

• Your company: If you receive coverage from your employer, you can even contact HR or the case manager assigned to your company to provide you with guidance or even support your appeal.
• Nonprofits: Research nonprofit organizations that might be able to help you with this process. For example, the Patient Advocate Foundation will help manage your case for free or provide educational reading materials and live chat help support without costing you a dime.
• Your doctor: Another person you can reach out to is your doctor, who can help you write your appeal letter or write a letter of medical necessity to help with your appeal.
• Companies that advocate for you: Patients who have health insurance coverage from their employers can reach out to companies like Health Advocate for help in navigating their health insurance problems. However, your company has to be contracting with Health Advocate. The firm also provides help for a fee to those who buy their own insurance at Health Proponent.
• Government: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has a staff that will answer questions you have, and help you obtain your benefits. You can visit their website and fill out a form to explain your predicament or call them at 1.866.444.EBSA.

Today, the Supreme Court upheld most of Obama’s healthcare plan, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, by a narrow 5-4 vote. But what does this mean for people like you and me? Here are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions:

When will the law go into effect?

Actually, parts of the plan have already gone into effect. For example, new health plans are required to provide free preventative care for services like colonoscopies and mammograms, and young adults are covered by their family's insurance plan until they turn 26. So parts of the plan have already been implemented, but with this ruling, we'll see more changes to come. And many of the major changes will happen in 2014.

What are some things to look forward to?

Consumers will see a lower cost of medications and more preventative care coverage. You'll also be able to access the new health insurance exchange programs (see video explanation here) which are said to be the healthcare version of online travel companies like Orbitz. Competition among the companies are expected to drive down insurance prices. Other benefits of the plan include more help for people who can't afford insurance, and insurance companies won't be able to deny people with preexisting conditions coverage.

What's this about a fine if I don't get health insurance?

If you aren't covered by insurance by 2014, you need to get it or be subjected to a fine. In 2014, uninsured people will face a fine of $95 or one percent of their income, and in 2015, the penalties are even steeper. This fee is meant to encourage younger people in good health to take up insurance, and the money go towards funding for the older patients and those who aren't in good health. Those exempt from this fine includes people make very little income, certain religious groups, and families who pay over eight percent of their income to insurance premiums even after employer contributions and federal subsidies.

Read on for more.

Many people pay a lot of money for medical expenses. Kiplinger shares a couple of ways to cut your health bills.

Spend less on drugs

Switching to generic drugs is one of the easiest ways to save — especially now that some big-name medications, such as Lipitor, have gone generic (see Brand-Name Lipitor at Generic Prices). Some brand-name drugs don’t have a generic clone but do have a therapeutic equivalent, which is in the same class of drugs but is a little different chemically. You can look up generics and therapeutic equivalents at www.drx.com (or through your insurer’s Web site) and also see how much you can save by using mail order. Ask your doctor about lower-cost alternatives.

Spend less at the hospital

Physicians often work at outpatient surgery centers as well as hospitals, and the cost of treatment can vary widely by location even though you’re getting care from the same doctor. Before scheduling a procedure, ask whether the doctor works at any other facilities. Then call the hospitals or outpatient centers to compare costs. Fees for the doctor and the anesthesiologist might be the same, but you’re likely to save on the facility fee.

Read on for more.

Sometimes all these acronyms can make your head spin. All you want to do is pick an insurance plan that will cover your needs — so which one is right for you? Read on to find out:

You should pick a PPO if:

• You like the flexibility of choosing out-of-network doctors even though you might have to pay more for them.
• You don't want to jump hoops and request a referral from a primary care physician if you see a specialist. A PPO lets you see a specialist without a referral.
• You don't mind paying the doctor directly and going through the hassle of filing a claim with the insurance company.
• You're willing to pay a deductible and higher copays in exchange for flexibility.

You should pick an HMO if:

• You don't want to bother with filing claims and would rather leave it up to the doctors and physicians to file the claims to get paid.
• You don't want to pay a deductible.
• You're OK with sticking to the in-network doctors.
• You want lower monthly fees and copayments.
• Note that there may be some limitations on services it covers. You can always appeal it, but it's not certain if you will succeed.

In a nutshell, if you're in good health and aren't picky about doctors, an HMO would be the right plan for you. But if you have favorite doctors that are out-of-network or if you have special needs, get a PPO with a low deductible.

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

I recently asked my twentysomething friends what they'd like to know about getting health insurance. The most common response? "Everything." Evidently, and understandably, those of us navigating the maze of health insurance for the first time are less than clear on the ins and outs. Plus, paying for health insurance coverage can be a drag when you don't have much cash to spare. SEE ALSO: Our Quiz on What Young Adults Need to Know About Health Insurance

But skipping it could be even more costly. Although the number of uninsured young adults is falling, thanks to new federal rules requiring most insurers to allow children on parents' health plans up to age 26, more than one-fourth of young people remain without coverage. In 2010, about 27% of 18-to-24 year olds and 28% of 25-to-34 year olds had no health insurance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. "I have seen so many stories about young people who ended up saddled with enormous medical bills," says Kathleen Stoll, deputy executive director of Families USA, a health-coverage advocacy organization. "It's not a risk you want to take if you can find an affordable source of coverage." Here's how to get good coverage without going broke:

Individual Coverage

Even if you have the option of employer or parental coverage, you may be able to find less-expensive coverage on your own. In most states, healthy, young people can find individual policies in the private market with premiums of about $150 to $200 a month, says Ankeny Minoux, president of the Foundation for Health Coverage Education. A high-deductible policy may run closer to $100 a month. On average, single coverage through an employer costs an employee $921 a year in premiums, or about $77 per month, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. But the cost varies widely by employer. You can shop for and compare policies at sites such as eHealthInsurance.com. Or find a broker who will help you get coverage through www.nahu.org.

Check your plan options carefully, says Aaron Smith, executive director of Young Invincibles, an organization that advocates for health care for young people. You may find that, say, certain prescriptions or doctors you visit regularly aren't covered. And keep in mind that premiums you pay through an employer will be deducted from your paycheck before taxes, a perk you won't have with individual coverage.

Read on for more.