{"id":18684,"date":"2025-01-14T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/?p=18684"},"modified":"2025-01-14T09:13:06","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T14:13:06","slug":"your-benefits-new-year-checklist-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/?p=18684","title":{"rendered":"Your Benefits: New Year Checklist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For benefits-eligible employees, the start of a new year is a great time to review all the MSU benefit options available to make sure you\u2019re fully utilizing them throughout the year. The following list of tips and resources to consider will help you get the most out of your employee benefits:\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Schedule Wellness Check-ups:<\/strong>\u202fIf you\u2019re enrolled in an MSU health, dental, and\/or vision plan, you\u2019ve just entered a new plan year. Even though an annual check-up is usually recommended by doctors, many people miss out each year because they forget to schedule an appointment. Set your family up for success by scheduling any annual or wellness check-ups now.\u202f <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Prepare for Illness:<\/strong>\u202fTeladoc is an online medical care service that gives you 24\/7 access to a health care professional via web, phone, or mobile app in minutes. A doctor can even write you a prescription if necessary.\u202fEnroll in Teladoc<\/a>\u202fnow so you\u2019re prepared when illness strikes. \u202fAvailable to employees and their dependents that are enrolled in an MSU health plan<\/em>.\u202f <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Review Retirement Contributions<\/strong>: The IRS sets new retirement contribution limits each year. Make sure you\u2019re saving as much as you can by reviewing the\u202f2025 IRS retirement contribution limits\u202f<\/a>and adjusting contributions if needed.\u202f <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Note Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Deadlines:\u202f<\/strong>If you\u2019re enrolled in an FSA for the 2024 and\/or 2025 plan year, please\u202fnote\u202fimportant deadlines and resources for utilizing your FSA funds<\/a>.\u202f <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Use Educational Assistance Funds<\/strong>: Support staff and academic specialist employees have access to\u202feducational assistance<\/a>\u202ffunds to use towards professional development opportunities. These funds reset each fall, so make sure you don\u2019t miss out. If you\u2019re looking for learning opportunities, we recommend checking out\u202fcourses offered by HR\u2019s Organization and Professional Development department<\/a>.\u202f <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Note Mental Health Resources<\/strong>: The MSU community offers a\u202fvariety of mental health resources<\/a>\u202fto employees and their dependents.\u202f <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Schedule Vacation\/Personal PTO<\/strong>: Taking time to rest and reset is important to maintain mental health. Make sure you\u2019re using all your PTO by planning out and scheduling your time off in advance.\u202f <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Employee Discounts<\/strong>: Visit the\u202fMSU Benefits Plus website<\/a>\u202ffor deals and discounts on everything from travel and experiences to electronics and toys. Additional discounts can be found on the\u202fMSU Human Resources website<\/a>.\u202f <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Voluntary Benefit Options<\/strong>: You may enroll in, change, or cancel auto, home, and pet insurance benefits at any time through the\u202fMSU Benefits Plus website<\/a>.\u202f Legal, critical illness, and vision insurance only allow benefit changes during Open Enrollment in October.<\/em>\u202f <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. Register for a Free Diabetes Management Program<\/strong>: If you or a dependent are living with diabetes,\u202fLivongo<\/a>\u202fby Teladoc Health can help by providing free necessary medical supplies and optional coaching.\u202f Employees or dependents enrolled in Medicare are not eligible<\/em>.\u202f <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  11. Get a Second Medical Opinion<\/strong>: If you are facing a serious medical diagnosis,\u202fTeladoc Medical Experts<\/a>\u202fcan review your case and offer a second medical opinion from leading health care specialists. Coaching and online educational tools are also available.\u202f Employees with mandated insurance under the ACA are not eligible<\/em>.\u202f <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    We hope this list will help keep you on track as you plan out how you and your family will use your employee benefits this year. You can learn more about all these\u202fbenefit options on the HR website<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    For benefits-eligible employees, the start of a new year is a great time to review all the MSU benefit options available to make sure you\u2019re fully utilizing them throughout the year. The following list of… Continue Reading… Your Benefits: New Year Checklist<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":18691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0},"categories":[2],"tags":[16,633,55,508,72,74,75,302,557],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/new-year-benefits-checklist-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1344&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb1fcA-4Rm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18684"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18684"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18719,"href":"https:\/\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18684\/revisions\/18719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourcelive.hr.msu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}