OPEN ENROLLMENT TIPS FOR EMPLOYERS
Health insurance open enrollment happens once every year, usually during
the fall. Unfortunately, the corresponding paperwork typically generates
as much enthusiasm as yearly tax forms. But employees need access to
the right information to make the best possible health decisions for
themselves and their families. And, given the current economic pressures
and the rising costs of health care, they could also use some ideas for
saving money on health costs.
With so many insurers and employers raising health insurance premiums,
scaling back benefits, and the unknown surrounding the new health reform
bill that passed this week, your employees need to know how their health
plan stacks up against any others being offered, and what their options
are.
HRI strongly recommends that you have an open enrollment meeting annually even if no changes to the plans are made. Employees should sign off on attendance or you should have a record on invitations. Any employee declining benefits MUST sign a declination form to protect you, the employer. If you have a premium only plan (POP), you should have employees sign an authorization to deduct under the POP. If you are offering new plans, ensure that the employees receive the Plan Summary Plan Description within 60 days of plan enrollment.
To meet your enrollment targets for 2010, you need to consider the following factors in crafting your benefits communication:
- Employees care about their benefits more than ever before, and benefits are a larger part of their total compensation in 2010, given businesses’ response to the economy. Multiple surveys attest to how much employees value their benefits — health care and financial. With salaries frozen or decreasing, and the value of health care benefits always on the rise, benefits make up a larger part of total compensation and, as a result, a larger part of employment brand and value proposition.
- Benefits are on the national stage and you’re going to get more hard-to-answer questions. National health care reform has put health care benefits front and center in the national news. Employees and families will want to know how legislation might change their benefits, including health care.This is a prime opportunity to demonstrate and reinforce the value of your benefit offerings.
- Social media are changing expectations as to how, when and why employees receive information. In an age of iPhones, Facebook, Twitter, and real-time access to any piece of information, the traditional methods of communicating benefits information may not be good enough. Employees want easier access to information, and they want it to be easy to take action on the information they receive.
With these factors in mind, below are guidelines for benefits communication during open enrollment for 2010:
- Connect benefits to the business Educate employees about your company’s benefits philosophy and how it is connected to the business. Arm employees with information about total compensation, and use it to help tell the whole story. Talking points or checklists will allow you to push the benefits message further.
- Keep it simple Employees' top concerns during enrollment are: ":What's new? What will it cost?" Spell out these answers, and why, in simple terms along with step-by-step instructions on how to enroll. Create a one-page enrollment tip sheet that lists what’s changing in as simple a form as possible (perhaps just a bulleted list), gives brief enrollment instructions, and tells employees and families where to go for all the details.
- Focus onemployees' needs Employees need to know how this impacts them, their lives and their families. Break down discussion of overall health costs into what the company spends per employee. Emphasize the impact on employees’ pocketbooks. Resist the temptation to include figures about your company’s total benefits spend or telling employees how many billion dollars per year bad health care decisions are costing the US
- Promote missed and underutilized benefits Put together a list of the benefit plans employees aren't using enough — health savings accounts, fitness benefits, voluntary insurance, hidden features of your EAP, preventive care benefits, commuter benefits — as a one-page flyer. Title it "The Top 10 Employee Benefits You Are Missing," or "10 Ways You Are Not Getting the Most from Your Benefit Plans." Ask employees for their ideas.
- Start using social media This is especially important if enrollment meetings have been cut. In-person meetings are valuable, but travel costs can be expensive. Substitute those live meetings with virtual Webinars. If possible, post recordings online for employees who can’t make the enrollment meeting.
Rolling over existing health plans may be costly to many employees this year, especially when their benefits often represent as much as 30 to 40 percent of their total employee compensation package. Holding an open enrollment meeting and offering employees new options, such as an FSA, could save them money and help you retain your valued employees.
About HRI
HRI's human resources, OSHA, safety, training,
recruiting and strategic business development services support clients
across all industries with HR expertise tailored to companies in any
stage of development. For more information about HRI, call us at 925.556.4404
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