No images? Click here
When it’s Important to Stay in the Know.
Easing You into Open Enrollment Season
Open enrollment season is an important time of year, but it can be stressful for employers and employees alike. Businesses find themselves seeking benefits plans that keep team members happy and protected — and make the organization attractive to potential hires — all while juggling communication with existing employees. At the same time, team members are combing through plan options to determine the fit that makes the most sense for their unique circumstances.
A planned approach can go a long way toward keeping open enrollment on track for all involved. Here, your BCH team offers insights to help guide your season successfully forward when it matters.
Top Employer Tips: Ways to Streamline the Open Enrollment Process
Start Early and Communicate Clearly: Employees should never be forced to make important plan decisions on the fly during open enrollment meetups. A week (or more) ahead of your company meeting, announce that open enrollment is coming up and provide each person with their specific plan options. Send out regular reminders and make sure team members know who they can turn to with any questions or concerns. Utilize various communication channels such as emails, posters and even one-on-one sessions, if possible, to ensure employees are well informed.
Consider Available Digital Solutions: Modern-day technology can go a long way toward simplifying enrollment. Offer an easy-to-navigate online portal where employees can access information about their benefits, compare different plans and make selections. A user-friendly interface can significantly reduce confusion and save valuable time.
Organize an All-Hands Meeting to Cover Available Plans: People often feel out of their element when discussing matters such as health insurance. Create a meeting agenda that ensures you’ll cover the issues that matter most to your crew, and work hard to stay on track. And encourage everyone to ask questions. (If there’s something one person doesn’t understand, chances are they aren’t alone.) In addition, make sure the team has a point of contact they can consult with questions after the fact — whether they need guidance filling out paperwork, checking in on flexible spending account balances or something else entirely.
Selecting the Right Benefits and Health Insurance: Open Enrollment Tips for Team Members
Review Last Year's Choices: Take a moment to evaluate the benefits you selected during the previous year. What was your deductible? How much of that deductible did you use? Have your needs changed? If you expect significant medical expenses in the coming year, a low-deductible health plan might be more suitable. Meanwhile, a high-deductible plan could save you money if you're generally healthy.
Educate Yourself Regarding Available Plans: Understand the details of each benefit option available to you. Don't hesitate to ask questions or seek guidance from HR or benefit experts to make informed decisions. There’s no denying plan verbiage can be confusing to those who don’t deal with it each day. A benefits professional will be able to lay things out in a way that’s easy to understand.
Factor Finances into Your Planning: Many employee benefits packages include tax-saving opportunities such as flexible spending accounts (FSAs) or health savings accounts (HSAs) to reduce your taxable income and save for future medical expenses. Ask about any such options available to your company — and if you’re unclear about how they work, ask questions! Your HR or benefits coordinator will be happy to help.
Understand Basic Insurance Lingo: As we’ve already mentioned, benefits packages are filled with language that’s more than a bit confusing. Understanding key concepts makes deciphering plan options more manageable.
Getting word out about employee benefits packages early on — and in the right way — can help keep your team members from having to make important plan decisions at the last minute. Here, we provide some guidance to get you started.
BCH’s Risk Management Center is Your 24/7 Benefits Support Hub
With real-time reports for benefits administrators, automated emails that streamline hiring and enrollment processes and around-the-clock access for team members needing to verify or update their elections, your Risk Management Center (RMC) is here to help.
Being There When it Matters for 40 Years and Counting.
