Avoid the End of the Year Rush

Before you know it, the holidays will be upon us and we will be busy with cooking and baking and wrapping and shopping and singing and all the wonderful other duties and chores that mark the holidays. In addition to the enjoyable chores and duties we have, we also want to make sure that we are not neglecting our finances.

Be sure to look in your medical file folder to make sure you have submitted all of your health insurance claims to all of the necessary insurance carriers. If you are on Medicare, review your Medicare Summary Notices to make sure that the claims were automatically forwarded to your secondary insurer. If they were not, simply make a copy of the Medicare notices, write your secondary policy number on them and mail to your secondary insurer.

There is a time limit for submitting health insurance claims and it varies by insurance carrier. Many companies will say one year from the date of service while other companies will say you can do all of the preceding calendar year, which means right now in 2005 we can submit 2004 and 2005 claims. You might also have a little pile of prescription receipts that need to be submitted to your insurance carrier. This can add up to a nice little sum of money that you may be entitled to. Likewise, if you have submitted claims in the last few months, be sure to follow-up on the status, and make sure the claims were paid properly.

How about your health insurance? Is it up for renewal? Is your COBRA about to run out? Do not wait until the day before your policy expires to decide it is time to replace it. It takes at least a month to get a new policy issued. If your COBRA benefits are due to run out in the next several months, now is the right time to begin exploring other options. If your policy anniversary date is coming up, now is the time to explore all options to help contain the cost.

Is there a college student in your life? If so, make sure “proof of student” status was forwarded to your insurance agent or insurance carrier. Claims will be denied if this is not on file. You need a “proof of student” letter for each semester.

Most of us have more bills to pay in December than in any other month, largely due to our holiday shopping and spending patterns. However, make sure the first bill you pay is your health insurance. Do not allow your health insurance to lapse. When your policy is in a state of lapse, no claims can be paid. Most insurance companies will only reinstate a lapsed policy once or twice and then only if you are one month behind in paying the premium. We had one client that was four months behind and ended up in the hospital. Needless to say, he did not have health insurance and the hospital bill was not covered by his former health insurance. The best present you can give yourself is health insurance; we may be healthy now but no one knows what tomorrow holds. You simply cannot self-insure for a medical illness. If you do not have health insurance, now is the time to explore what it will cost you and what your options are.

Do you have a Flexible Spending Account? If so, now is the time to check how much money you have left in your account. If you have a nice sum left to spend before December 31^st, you might want to order those prescription glasses you have been wanting or stock up on over the counter medications in the pharmacy.

Many group health insurance plans renew in January and your employer may have handed you a nice, fat package to review. If they offer more than one health insurance plan, now is the time to decide which plan will be best for you in the coming year. Situations change and what you have now might not be your number one choice for 2006, based on anticipated surgeries and other medical expenses. Once you make your selection, you are locked in to that Plan for one year.

Irene Card & Betsy Chandler are both licensed insurance professionals working at MIC Insurance Services, a health insurance services company. If you have questions relative to this column or other related topics, we invite you to call (973) 492-2828, browse our past columns on our web site at www.micinsurance.com.

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