Ways to Get More from Your Life and Health Insurance This Year
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If you’re like many people, you've resolved to pay more attention to your finances this year. Smart move! Along with your spending and savings, include your life and health insurance. As forms of financial protection, they’re part of your financial picture, too.
Reviewing your coverage periodically helps ensure it still aligns with your current needs, responsibilities, and long‑term goals. And the better you understand your policies, the better positioned you'll be to take advantage of the protection and benefits they provide.
Best of all, this doesn't need to be complex or time‑consuming. A few simple steps, from updating beneficiaries and understanding your health plan costs to taking advantage of preventive care and seeking professional guidance, can help you get more value from your coverage throughout the year.
1. Review Your Life Insurance Benefits
Life’s only constant is change. It’s a given that major life events—a new marriage, baby, home or business—generally create the need for more life insurance, because now there’s more to protect! But even without dramatic changes, it’s wise to verify that your current benefits still cover your commitments, including your family’s future and goals.
Besides benefits, take a fresh look at the available riders. For example, once you have a family, adding a children’s insurance rider will extend your benefits to cover them, too.
Learn more about life insurance coverage options and riders here
2. Check Your Life Insurance Beneficiaries
Everyone names their beneficiaries when they first obtain life insurance, but you’d be surprised how many never revisit that decision. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), it's good practice to review your named beneficiaries every year—especially after major life events such as marriage, divorce, or the birth of a child.
Keep in mind: beneficiary designations typically override wills, which is why estate planners stress reviewing them regularly. It only takes a few minutes, but it will ensure your wishes are observed.
3. Know Your Key Health Plan Numbers
Chances are, you know what your health insurance premiums are. But here are some other important amounts to learn, if your plan includes them.
- Deductible: The amount you pay for covered services each year before your insurance starts paying.
- Coinsurance: Your share, say 20% of the cost, for covered services after you meet your deductible.
- Copays: The fixed amount you pay for specific services (like a doctor’s visit or prescription) when you receive them.
- Allowed Amount: The maximum amount your insurance will pay for a covered service. You may be responsible for the difference if you’re charged more.
- Out‑of‑Pocket Maximum: The most you pay in a year for covered healthcare costs before your insurance pays 100% of eligible expenses.
Not all plans have all of these features, but knowing what you do have can help you avoid surprise bills. It can also help you schedule non‑urgent services cost‑effectively, such as after you’ve met your deductible.
Learn more about health insurance costs and practical ways to manage them.
4. Choose In‑Network Providers
If your health insurance plan includes a provider network, now’s the time to switch to in‑network providers. Here’s why it will save money:
- In‑Network Providers: Healthcare providers that have agreed to negotiated rates with your insurer, resulting in lower fees.
- Out‑of‑Network Providers: Healthcare providers that don’t have a contract with your insurer and typically cost you more.
Using in‑network providers generally translates to lower copays and coinsurance, while counting fully toward your deductible and out‑of‑pocket maximum. Out‑of‑network providers cost more and offer less coverage toward your deductible and out‑of‑pocket maximum. In some plans, they’re not covered at all.
How do you know which providers are in‑network? Your health plan maintains a list or directory, and your providers should confirm it. But status can change from year to year, so be sure to verify it.
5. Leverage Your Preventive Care Benefits
Many health plans cover preventive services—i.e., annual physicals, screenings, and vaccines—at no or minimal cost. Learn what they cover and be sure to use them.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), routine preventive care and screenings can help identify health issues early, when treatment may be more effective
Early treatment is typically much less expensive than more advanced care, which is why insurers cover these services.
At PALIG, preventive and proactive care is at the forefront of everything we do. That is why our health plans offer you important preventive benefits, including cancer screenings, vaccine programs, and much more. You can learn more about some of them here.
6. Track Your Health Insurance Usage
Tracking your health insurance usage throughout the year gives you a real‑world picture of how your plan is actually working for you—not just how it looks on paper.
By noting how often you visit the doctor, fill prescriptions, etc.—and how much of these services are covered—you can see if your current plan is a good fit. For example, if you rarely use medical services, a lower‑premium, higher‑deductible plan may be more cost‑effective.
On the flip side, if you consistently meet your deductible early in the year or regularly visit specialists, a plan with higher premiums but lower out‑of‑pocket costs could save you in the long run.
This helps you make better health plan decisions next year, whether you’re covered individually or through your employer.
7. Use Your Advisor as a Resource
Online tools can be very helpful for life and health insurance. But they aren’t a substitute for the personalized guidance you’ll get from your local insurance advisor.
If your advisor offers annual policy reviews, take them up on it—and if they don’t, request one. They know what to ask to ensure that your policies remain meaningful, and they are there to help you.
At PALIG, our advisors are committed to helping their clients get the most from their policies.
Don’t have a PALIG advisor? Start the year right: find one here.
This is not an offer or solicitation to sell insurance products. The information above is intended to provide general information and constitutes a summary of the different product benefits. It is not a contract or agreement. The terms of insurance coverages in the plans may vary by jurisdiction. All products are subject to exclusions and other applicable terms and conditions.