Hidden Health Care Benefits You’re Missing
July 12, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Health & Wellness
If you’ve got health coverage through work, there are plenty of health care options you may be missing. It’s not a huge shock because most companies don’t make it easy to reap these extra rewards. They usually send employees through a one-time health insurance orientation, make you fill out forms in a hurry, and while they’ll send memos about health care plan updates there are rarely meetings to cover any new questions employees may have.
Since you’re paying for part of your insurance with each and every paycheck you may as well find all those hidden perks you may be missing. Here’s how…
- Sit down with your health care paper work and look through it carefully. Jot down questions you come up with – it’s ok to go drill HR about your form questions.
- Look for the term flexible-spending account (or FSA). Most companies offer these but few people I’ve ever worked with use them. An FSA allows you to set aside pretax cash to cover expenses like eyeglasses, co-pays, and medication which can add up to large savings over time.
- Ask about healthy choice incentives. Some companies offer (in the small print) wellness programs or seminars on topics like weight-loss or smoking cessation, and some even offer cash bonuses or great prizes to employees who meet specific get healthy goals.
- Check out deals offered by your insurance carrier or company. Some companies offer group discount memberships to gyms. Many companies have policies that allow deals on extras like contacts or teeth whitening. Often times deals and discounts change so it’s smart to check up on your insurance providers website or talk with HR from time to time to learn about new promotions and deals.
[image via stock.xchng]
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] 5. See if you can snag corporate discounts – often larger companies will offer huge savings on goods and services from other companies. In fact if you work for the right place you can get discounts there. For example, my pal fixes computers for a major grocery chain here in the NW and he gets big ol’ discounts at the store. See other ways your company can save you money. [...]