In most cases, the open enrollment period is once every year, so if you have any desired medical changes to your health insurance they would have to be made during that period. Remember all major coverage changes you want to make to your health insurance policy must be done during the open enrollment period, otherwise you will have to wait until the next available period. That is the main reason why when there is an open enrollment period, you should review your policy and make sure any changes are made in a timely manner.

Essentially an open enrollment period is really there to help you plan for the future. You have to look at all your doctor visits, any medications you need, specialty doctors, and anything else that falls into your health coverage. That way you can look at what coverage you are going to need, then make changes accordingly. For example, say you were planning to have a baby, and want everything to be covered perfectly. You would need to look over your policy and see what coverage you have if you did decide to have a baby. If you wanted to make any changes to be certain everything goes smoothly with the birth of your child, you have to make sure that it is taken care of during your open enrollment period.

Throughout your open enrollment period, you are able to shop, compare, and ask your benefits administrator any questions about changes to your policy. Open enrollment is not the only time you are able to make changes to your policy, other life changing events like the birth of a child or the loss of a loved one may qualify you to make some changes. In most cases, serious life changing events may qualify you to a certain period of open enrollment. Take advantage of your open enrollment periods and make sure any changes you want to make are made within the period.

It is extremely dangerous to go without insurance for any amount of time, especially when you have other people to provide for. Say that you canceled your policy prior to being accepted to your new policy, then you find out that you were denied. Now you are in a situation with no insurance, and have no plan to get the insurance you desire. If you really want to switch health insurance, make sure your new policy is active with all your specifications

When receiving a new health insurance policy, there is always a risk of having some limitations on coverage. If there was a condition that was discovered with your old health insurance carrier, that condition may or may not be covered with your new policy. That is something you will have to research on your new policy prior to cancelling your old one.

If it is found that a condition with your old insurance will not be covered with your new insurance, it will be classified as a “pre-existing condition”. There is one way to safely switch health providers and not have any “pre-existing” conditions not be covered, and that is when you switch from one group insurance policy to another. The main reason is that group insurance policies do not look at medical records as closely because the number of people without medical conditions almost always outweighs the number of people with them.

The biggest mistakes made when switching health insurance carriers is not knowing about pre-existing conditions. Now the person may have a slightly better policy, but something that was covered in their old policy is no longer covered with their new one. If you got your new health policy and found out there are some pre-existing conditions that are not covered, there may be some good news. Depending on the company, some pre-existing conditions will be covered after a specified waiting period. A lot of times the waiting period is no less than two years before coverage can begin, so check with your insurance company because every policy is different.