Open enrollment packets are built to be skimmed. Four plan names, a grid of deductibles, a premium per paycheck, and a deadline. Most people pick whatever they had last year, or whichever premium looks smallest. No judgement.
There’s a better way, and it takes about 15 minutes. You don’t need to know which plan is “best.” You need one formula, your employer’s real numbers, and an honest guess about next year. Below we’ll decode the plan types, give you the formula, and run it through five common situations so you can see which plan wins for each, and by how much.
