Health Benefits Open Enrollment Tips

The Fourth Quarter is the busiest time of year for health insurance companies. Most of the industry’s group medical plans renew during this time, and carrier delays are more likely to occur. It can be overwhelming for benefits administrators, so we wanted to provide some open enrollment tips.

1. Start early! Schedule time with your broker at least three to four months prior to your open enrollment month – earlier is better.
2. Meet with your leadership team early to align with organization objectives.
3. Set completion target dates with your broker and leadership so that all are on the same page.
4. Evaluate what went well last year and what did not. Did you receive common questions from staff last year? If so, this may be an area where communication could improve.
5. Survey your employees to learn what they want most out of their benefits package. Are there any benefits that could be added or removed based on their responses?
6. Identify the communication style of your organization so you can offer an open enrollment platform that best serves the employees. Do they prefer online open enrollment or in-person open enrollment meetings?
7. Develop your communication plan with staff. Short, incremental communications with reminders leading up to your open enrollment meeting are helpful.
8. Provide employees with deadlines for submitting their enrollment changes after the meeting.
9. Review open enrollment materials in advance.
10. Consider working with your broker to pre-record an open enrollment webinar that can be distributed in advance with open enrollment materials.
11. Try a separate wellness program kick-off meeting a month or two after open enrollment. This way, employees may be less likely to have information overload.
12. Don’t forget to distribute required notices!

We work closely with our clients prior to and during open enrollment to provide customized benefits solutions, open enrollment meetings, complimentary tools and guidance. You are invited to request a free analysis of benefits.

If you have any questions feel free to contact us at 888-427-5224 or marketing@cal-insurance.org.

References

How to Plan for this Year’s Open Enrollment

Planning Your Open Enrollment for Success

‍