Open enrollment for 2021 benefits starts soon. Here's what you should know - USA TODAY

Open enrollment for 2021 benefits will kick off in November, when companies ask workers to pick medical, dental plans and more.

It's that time of year again: open enrollment for your 2021 benefits. (Photo: Chinnapong / Getty Images).

Open enrollment for 2021 benefits will kick off in November when companies ask their workers to pick everything from medical and dental plans to long-term disability insurance.

Open enrollment is typically the only chance to make changes to your benefits unless you have a significant life change, like getting married or having a baby.

Your employer will typically alert you to its open enrollment period ahead of time.

While there is no required length of time that companies must offer open enrollment, the sign-up period typically lasts three to four weeks, Zielke notes.

By comparison, open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act — which offers medical insurance plans to people without employer-sponsored coverage — is open from November 1 to December 15.

That’s why more employers are offering supplemental benefits — such as disability and life insurance

“Supplemental plans like critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident and short-term disability insurance pay cash benefits that can be used however you want.”