Open Enrollment: Your Roadmap for Success
The end of the year is commonly when businesses review and renew their benefits offering. Open enrollment season is the perfect time for employers to look at their current benefits package, assess employee needs, and explore new options.
In This Article
As the year winds down, open enrollment season is just around the corner, and if you are a business owner you may be dreading it. This annual period is a little different for businesses than for individuals looking to purchase health coverage from the Marketplace between November 1st and December 15th (for coverage starting in January). While people across the country are making decisions about their health coverage for the upcoming year, many business owners are preparing for their own specific open enrollment window—evaluating their current benefits and trying to ensure their employees are ready to select or update their benefits for the new year.
In this guide, we’ll talk through the steps your business should take to prepare for open enrollment, from reviewing health plan options to engaging with employees, ensuring a smooth and successful process for everyone involved.
Open enrollment basics
Open enrollment is the annual window when employees can sign up for or make changes to their health benefits. This window usually lasts 2-3 weeks, depending on the policies of the employer sponsoring the benefits. Most companies schedule this toward the end of the calendar year, as many plan years begin on January 1st. Because enrollment forms must be submitted and processed several weeks in advance, many companies choose to have open enrollment in November.
It’s an important time because, outside of a qualifying life event—such as, getting married, divorced, or having a baby—this is the only opportunity for employees to adjust their coverage for the upcoming year.
Open enrollment is not only about compliance and deadlines, but also an opportunity to ensure your benefits package is valuable and competitive. During this time employees can
- enroll in a health plan,
- add dependents,
- make changes to an existing plan or switch plans, or
- sign up for additional coverage (dental, vision, life, etc.).
Before open enrollment
Preparation is key for a successful, not stressful, open enrollment. Here’s the steps we recommend you take to get ahead of the game:
- Review your current health plan offering
- Consult with a broker or benefits administrator
- Stay informed about regulatory requirements
Review Your Current Health Plan Offering
The first step toward a successful open enrollment is taking a good look at what you currently offer. When reviewing what you’ve had for the past year and deciding whether to make changes or stick with the same options you’ll need to do some homework.
Ask yourself some questions about employee satisfaction and plan costs
Are my employees satisfied? Did they enroll last year? Did they actually use their benefits? Were there any complaints about the options? Are the costs of my benefits offering manageable?
Unfortunately, health insurance costs tend to rise every year, so assess whether the current options fit your budget while still providing value to your team.
Explore your options
Consider offering multiple plan tiers to accommodate different employee needs. For example, adding a high-deductible health plan paired with a health savings account (HSA) could be a solution some employees are looking for.
You can also get creative by looking outside the box of conventional health insurance options and adding a health insurance alternative like a HealthShare membership. Benefits administrators like Planstin who specialize in insurance alternatives can easily help you with this. Adding unique solutions like HealthShare memberships can offer flexibility and affordability that traditional options just can’t.
Consult with a Broker or Benefits Administrator
You don’t have to navigate the maze of healthcare options alone. A broker or benefits administrator can help you assess your options and determine which plans are the best fit for your company and your employees. Brokers can help you compare rates and coverage from different providers, and a benefits administrator can provide solutions like self-funded plans that can help you save on premiums while giving you more control over your benefits offering.
Getting a professional on your side can help you stay on top of the paperwork, deadlines, and changing healthcare regulations. They will help you keep your business compliant with federal and state requirements, especially if your company is subject to the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate. (find out if you are here.)
Stay Informed About Regulatory Requirements
For businesses subject to the ACA, offering health coverage that meets minimum essential coverage standards is a legal requirement. Even if you have a small business that isn’t bound by these regulations, it’s important to keep up with any changes to ensure you’re offering competitive and compliant plans. Keeping up with these standards helps you avoid penalties and ensure your employees are receiving the coverage the need.
Communicate with employees
Once you’ve reviewed and selected the plans that you’ll offer, the next step is to communicate clearly and effectively with your employees. Open enrollment can be overwhelming, especially with so many details to consider. Here’s what you can do to help your employees through the process:
- Start early
- Simplify the information
- Highlight key details
Start Early
Communication is key, and it’s best to start at least 30 days before the open enrollment period begins. Early notice gives employees time to think through their options and ask questions. Besides giving early notice, you will want to use multiple communication channels to make sure you get your team’s attention.
Email announcements: Send a straightforward email outlining the dates for open enrollment, any new plans or changes, and instructions on how to enroll.
One-on-one meetings: Offer the option to meet with employees individually to go over their specific needs and options to help them make informed decisions
Educational materials: Whether printed or digital, a simple benefits guide or summary sheet can be very helpful for employees. Keep it simple, jargon-free, and easy to understand.
If you plan a team meeting to review the options for the coming year, be sure to include the details of that event in your email announcement and your educational materials.
Open Enrollment Tip
Communication is a key part of a successful open enrollment.
Most employees only deal with their benefits once per year, so they may have questions or need guidance. Communicate early in the process, make sure to clearly communicate deadlines, and don’t shy away from frequent communications in more public forums like company-wide Teams or Slack channels.
Simplify the Information
Insurance is riddled with jargon, and many employees likely find the options at least somewhat confusing. So, make sure you explain key terms like deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums in clear language that helps your employees understand how the options impact their day-to-day lives.
Examples:
Deductible: what you pay before your plan starts covering costs
Premium:
The amount you will pay monthly for your health plan
By breaking down the details, employees are more likely to engage with the process, ask questions, and make decisions that best align with their needs.
Highlight Key Details
If you have made any changes to your plans or if there are differences in cost, be sure to highlight them. Employees need to know if their premiums, deductibles, or networks are changing. Make sure to clearly communicate any deadlines for submitting their choices—including a warning that missing the deadline could leave them locked into their current plan, or a new plan that is the closest match (and that they are unfamiliar with) for a full year.
Encourage employee engagement
Employees may not always prioritize health insurance decisions, especially if they’ve been on the same plan for years. Encouraging engagement during open enrollment can help ensure they’re making the best choices for their situation. Here are some things you can do to get employees involved in the process:
- Host an open enrollment meeting
- Use technology to simplify enrollment
- Follow up often
Host an Open Enrollment Meeting
An open enrollment meeting—whether in person or virtually—can help guide employees through the process. Invite a benefits expert or your broker if you can, so you can provide a thorough overview of the benefits options and directly address any questions or concerns your employees may have. The better your team understands their options the more likely they are to make a choice that works well for them—ultimately leading to higher employee satisfaction.
Open enrollment meetings offer a valuable opportunity for you to not only highlight the unique aspects of your benefits program, but also emphasize your commitment to your employees’ well-being. This open interaction with your team can build trust and boost morale.
Use Technology to Simplify Enrollment
If you work with the right broker or benefits administrator, they should have tools that help make your life easier. For example, some companies offer online portals that allow employees to compare plan options and enroll digitally. If possible, make this option available to your team. Doing so will allow employees to log in at their convenience, explore details, and make their selections without the pressure of filling out paperwork.
Open Enrollment Tip
Follow Up!
Most enrollment tools will provide some type of report that will help track which employees have not completed their benefits. It’s important to follow up with them and make sure they complete the process before the deadline.
Follow Up and Send Reminders Often
Open enrollment is a short window and it will slip through your employees’ fingers before they know it. As the enrollment deadline nears, send reminders. Communicate everywhere you can: emails, office posters, teams or slack messages, or even text messages. This seeming barrage of communication will help keep the enrollment deadline in mind for employees who might otherwise forget to submit their selections on time.
After open enrollment
After the open enrollment period closes, your work is not quite done. There are a few final steps to ensure everything is set for the upcoming year.
- Verify employee selections
- Coordinate with your benefits administrator
- Distribute plan materials
Verify Employee Selections
Double-check that all employee enrollments have been submitted correctly and completely. Look for any errors or omissions that need to be addressed, such as employees accidentally choosing the wrong plan or missing dependent coverage.
Coordinate with Your Insurance Provider or Benefits Administrator
Work with your broker or administrator to make sure all necessary paperwork has been submitted. Your administrator should help you make sure everything is processed on time, so your employees are covered starting on the effective date of your new plan year.
Distribute Plan Materials
Once open enrollment is over and everything is finalized, you’ll need to distribute plan documents, ID cards, and welcome letters or packets to your employees. You may want to provide ongoing education so your employees feel confident with their benefits and know who to contact if they have any questions.
Stress-free open enrollment
Open enrollment is more than just a formality—or a headache. It’s an opportunity to ensure that your employees have the coverage they need while making sure your business is staying on top of costs and compliance. With careful planning, clear communication, and a little (or a lot of) help from a benefits professional, you can make the process smooth and stress-free for both you and your employees.
Need help getting started? Planstin can help you with everything on the open enrollment checklist: from prepping your options and educating your employees to managing costs and compliance concerns. Let us help you make this year your easiest open enrollment yet.
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