Deciding on plan design too quickly

When I was a kid, I was covered under my dad's plan. He worked for a hospital and we had 100% coverage for medications. I had asthma, so I got three inhalers: one for my locker, one for my backpack and one for home. They were free, so why not?

Each inhaler cost about $100, so $300 of claims hit the plan because of me. Claims went up and the whole group felt it at renewal. Eventually the hospital reduced coverage from 100% to 80%. Now I paid $20 per inhaler, and I went from three inhalers to one. Claims dropped from $300 to $80.

A small change in plan design had a big impact on claims, and on the next renewal. Choose your plan design carefully, control your claims, and you control your renewal.