Each fall, millions of Americans face an important decision: what kind of health coverage will protect them and their families next year? It’s open enrollment season, the annual window to review, renew, or adjust your health insurance benefits. Whether you’re insured through an employer, Medicare, or the Affordable Care Act, this is the time to make sure your plan still fits your needs and your budget.
CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger joined News 6 to walk us through the choices and changes to watch for this year. For television, we condensed her advice into a shorter segment, but we wanted to share her full conversation here; it’s packed with insights on how to get the most from your health coverage in 2026.
[WATCH: Dr. Oz talks to News 6 about Medicare open enrollment]
Here’s the transcript:
WKMG: “It’s open enrollment season for both workers and retirees, with plans changing. CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger is here to help guide us through the process. Jill, more than 150 million Americans purchase health insurance through their jobs. Where should they start?”
Jill Schlesinger: “I hear them groaning as we start this segment, don’t you? I think that it’s a big mistake to just choose what you did last year, right? So start with a list of your doctors for you, your family and all the prescriptions, and you just want to make sure everything is still covered under my current plan. Now, if it is, maybe you stick with that plan, but I also encourage people to just look at what else is offered that, you know, if things have changed, you go into another plan.
“I also [would] take a good, long, hard look at a high deductible health plan. More and more companies are offering these. These are plans that offer lower annual premiums in exchange for higher deductibles. Now, to pay for that higher deductible, you get to pair a high deductible health plan with something called a health savings account. These are among raising because they’re triple tax advantage.
“That means the money that goes into an HSA. It goes in pretax. The earnings inside of the HSA no tax, when you pull the money out and whenever that could be. It could be years. It could be decades in the future. No tax due. So it’s a very good way to save for health care over time.”
WKMG: “It’s also open enrollment for Medicare. What should folks over 65 know?”
Jill Schlesinger: “Well, from now until December 7th, you can enroll, change or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part C plan. You can also do the same with your drug coverage, your prescription drug coverage. That’s part D. Now, the thing is the same exact process as the process is with the workers. You’re going to have to spend time with these plans, I think, more so even than your employer-based plans.
“Medicare plans change every year. There are insurance that just pull out. They can change the scope of their benefits, their cost sharing, the services, drugs that are covered. So you really need to focus on the process because it really could save you a lot of money next year.”
WKMG: “Jill – last question. Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act opens on November 1st. What’s expected for those costs next year?”
Jill Schlesinger: “You know, more than 24 million people are covered by the Affordable Care Act. And I think that what we forget about is that a lot of those people get help paying for their health insurance through tax credits. Well, the government shutdown is actually the battle over the larger tax credits that were enacted under the Biden administration. They’re called the enhanced premium tax credits.
“So these are all expected to expire at the end of the year. These bigger tax credits. And if they do, I think a lot of Affordable Care Act enrollees are going to get a much smaller tax credit. Some might lose their eligibility altogether. So that would mean they not only lose a tax credit or get a smaller one, they also are going to actually have to be paying for higher premiums.
“A lot of people are talking about moving down in plan, maybe going from a gold plan to a silver, a silver to a bronze. Some people are just saying they’re going to squirrel away more money to pay for their health insurance. I just want to warn there, I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of people tempted to just get out of this insurance, but being uninsured has a massive risk for even the young and healthy person among us.”
WKMG: “Jill, that is a lot of information and a lot to absorb. Thank you so much. You can see Jill regularly on CBS Mornings and the CBS Evening News. For more analysis, go to JillOnMoney.com.”