Open enrollment, the annual window during which employees can change health insurance plans, is often treated as a formality to click through quickly, but the choices made during it can affect a household's finances more than any single raise that year. A plan with a lower monthly premium usually carries a higher deductible, meaning the saving only pays off for a household that rarely needs care; a family expecting a major medical event in the coming year is often better served by the plan with the higher premium and lower out-of-pocket costs. Benefits advisers say the mistake they see most often is employees choosing the same plan every year without recalculating whether their situation has changed.