Open Enrollment Season · Illinois
Open Enrollment Prescription Guide for Illinois
Open enrollment (Nov 1 - Jan 15 for ACA) is your annual chance to choose the right plan for your prescriptions. With 6.8% of Illinois residents uninsured, this decision matters enormously. Here's how to choose correctly.
Key insight: For many generic medications, cash pay through Script Unlock is cheaper than insurance copays. Always check the cash price before assuming you need a plan that covers a specific drug.
Prescription Checklist for Illinois Open Enrollment
- 1List all your current medications — generic name, dose, and monthly quantity
- 2Check each plan's formulary — is your medication on Tier 1, 2, 3, or higher?
- 3Calculate annual out-of-pocket: (monthly copay × 12) + deductible portion
- 4Compare to cash pay: sometimes paying cash beats your plan's copay — especially for generics
- 5Consider: do your doctors accept the plan's network pharmacies?
- 6Look at out-of-pocket maximum — how much you'd pay if something major happened