Seven Open Enrollment Mistakes That Cost Real Money
Auto-renewal traps, network drift, and subsidy leaks — the errors that turn a fine plan into an expensive one.
Most marketplace mistakes aren't dramatic; they're passive. The same seven show up every season, and each one has a ten-minute fix.
The list
One: auto-renewing without looking — your plan changed its network, its price, or lost benchmark status while you weren't watching. Two: chasing the lowest premium past a MOOP that's thousands higher. Three: skipping the income update, then meeting the reconciliation at tax time. Four: assuming your doctor is still in network because they were last year.
Five: ignoring Silver cost-sharing reductions your income qualifies for — near-Platinum coverage at Silver prices. Six: missing that a household member's employer plan changed the family's subsidy eligibility. Seven: waiting until the final deadline day, when call centers jam and document reviews run long.
The fix
Fifteen minutes before you renew: re-run the comparison, verify your top doctors, refresh your income estimate. A licensed agent will do all three with you at no cost — which turns the season's biggest trap, inertia, into the easiest one to escape.
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