Tips on Managing your Health Care from Cigna

How often do you think about your health care plan? I bet if you are like most Americans, you have thought of it a lot more the past 4 years than you ever have. Are you feeling overwhelming by all the news or are you just pushing it under the carpet until you need to deal with it? When it comes to your actual health care plan you can't just push it under the carpet. You need to know your plan and what is covered to get the most of your out-of-pocket or through our employer cost.

Cigna has offered their Mid-Year Health Check-in Tips to bring your family health care plan into focus. Here are 3 buzz words for you to keep in mind and some things for you to discuss as a family. 

If your family is like mine and depending on their ages, they are aware of the family health care plan but might not be interested in the details. So instead of a family meeting, have a date night to go over some of these tips. 

Check out The Health Plan Conversation and then check out my tips below. 



Did you like the video? Check out more at the Cigna YouTube page. 

Plan-Once a year, gather your health care information and go over it. Most plans do change a bit year after year. Make sure you know what is available to you and your family. Make a list of what the needs will be for the up and coming year. Anyone need glasses? How about braces? How about a planned surgery? 

We were fortunate to have one teen at a time needing braces. It spread out what our out-of-pocket expenses for each given year. Three out of five wear glasses in our home. We know that will be a potential yearly expense. How about you? What expenses do you have or will you have next year?

Prepare-As you go over your health care plan, write out the expected expenses and deductibles. Why? By doing this you can budget what needs to be spend and put that money aside each pay check. These planned expenses in the budget will help you plan for the future. 

For our family, it seems no matter what we do, at least once a year someone will end up in the ER or Urgent Care. Accidents and sudden extreme illness always occur outside of regular Doctor office hours and holidays. So even though we can't plan for emergencies, it would be great to have that money readily available for these events. Do you already do this? How do you handle the deductibles with your budget?

Prevent-There are a lot of hidden medical services that are going to be covered for your family that you wouldn't even think about unless you take the time to go over your plan. I say "hidden" because they are not your ordinary, day-to-day services. A lot of plans offer 24 hour phone care by RN's. Some offer rehab and reimbursement for exercise facilities. Some are offering a wellness bonus. Know your plan and use the resources that you are PAYING for! 

Our family works to make sure we use up all the preventive services in our plan. These are yearly renewable items such as a yearly physical or two dental cleanings per family member. Some services vary depending on your age. As we age we are given different services. Do you use up these items each year? You are paying for it! 

So plan a date night, get prepared so you can prevent a financial crisis. Do you have any health care tips? I'd love to hear about them!

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Cigna. I received a promotional item as a thank-you for participating.