7 ways to make open enrollment a success

October 20, 2022 10:17 AM

The words "open enrollment" are known to cause employees' eyes to glaze over. But it is possible to create true engagement — and better benefits selections.

Year after year, research shows that of the 155 million Americans that rely on employer-sponsored coverage, most spend mere minutes selecting their benefits during open enrollment. The first step to course correcting? Stop talking about benefits just once a year.

"Employers should not focus on [benefits] communications at annual enrollment only," says Stephen Durso, associate director of client service and delivery at Willis Towers Watson Health and Benefits. "Make it a throughout-the-year thing. Short, helpful and informational messages can build knowledge over time, and help build excitement when it comes to enrolling."

As employees get ready to make their selections this season, any "excitement" around open enrollment is likely driven by stress. As workers stare down an uncertain economy amid historic inflation rates and lingering COVID concerns, better managing their own healthcare and benefits spend is top of mind. According to a recent survey by Voya, 70% of employees plan to spend more time reviewing benefits during open enrollment this year.

With global healthcare costs on the rise as well, employers and benefit advisers have their work cut out for them this enrollment season. EBN checked in with top advisers to collect their best tips for building a successful and engaging open enrollment that will leave employees feeling empowered and prepared.

Acknowledge current challenges

"The world is different: Post-COVID life, work from home, the beginning of an inflationary

economy where gas prices are over $5 per gallon and the cost of eggs has tripled. The new realities of everyday life require a different approach to open enrollment.

"Renewals in 2020 and 2021 were met with a desire for stability, and no change. For this 2023 open enrollment season and beyond, new economic realities will make no change still feel like huge change. Making plan design and strategy changes that give employees a chance to save has never been more critical. These win-win approaches, when communicated with the WHY, will impact short- and long-term costs and the overall quality of benefits offered. For advisers, the ability to alter your approach to respond to the current and future economic realities will set you apart from the competition, while allowing you to positively impact lives."
—Lester Morales, founder and CEO, Next Impact

Offer real-world examples

"Share personal stories of how benefits can be impactful for them. Be morbid if you have to. I tell people all the time that one guaranteed thing we all have as fragile humans is death — so why would you not sign up for life insurance? Think about what that would mean to your loved ones, point to the average cost of a funeral in America. Raising these topics and helping employees understand that employee benefits truly are a benefit for them and their families."
—Elsa Glorioso, VP of insurance services, PeopleStrategy

Read more:

Global healthcare benefit costs expected to jump 10% in 2023

Use data to inform conversations

"When it comes to something like an HSA, employers will often say, 'Ok, we have an HSA benefits book, let's send that out to everyone, and check the box.' But that's very much not the way to go with HSAs, which are like a Swiss Army knife of benefits. There are so many tools to use for different purposes, and there are different employees that will take advantage of each of those purposes.

"For employees that make a lot of money, the triple-tax savings really sticks out, and they may be thinking about using it for retirement as well. But if you just focus on that group, you're missing out on people who don't make as much money, and who maybe don't realize that they can use the HSA for medical expenses — if someone has a 25% tax rate, for example, if they have a $100 medical expense today, just by running that through their HSA, they save $25. But maybe money is tight for them and they don't understand the benefit of the HSA.

Read more:

7 tips to help employers and employees optimize HSAs

"Employers would work with their HSA administrator to segment out groups based on past contribution activity. Someone who has an HSA but is contributing $5 a month out of their paycheck should be targeted differently than someone who is maxing out their contribution. Look at the data, use it to inform conversations and then maintain those communications throughout the year, not just during open enrollment."
—Stephen Durso, associate director of client service and delivery, Willis Towers Watson Health and Benefits

Personalize service

"An employee came in to cancel their accident plan because they 'never used it.' Our counselor asked if they had been to the doctor, and the employee said she had not been, but her husband had been hospitalized due to an accident. (She had forgotten he was on the plan.) A few questions later, and the employee realized there was an accident claim that could have been filed. We did that for them, and they collected $30,000 a week later! If our team had just allowed for passive enrollments with voluntary benefit plans, this employee and countless others wouldn't collect what was there all along.

"In turn, our open enrollment best practices revolve around service, not selling. If you can help an existing policy holder find money they didn't realize was there, that not only helps the employee financially, but it also creates goodwill, and that message spreads."
—Charlotte Santa Cruz, founder and CEO, Santa Cruz Insurance Group

Zoom in on digital tools

"Help employees experience your benefits and focus on their health in the same ways that they engage in the consumer world — via smartphones, tablets and laptops. In an ultra-competitive labor market, it has never been more important to maximize the results of your investment in benefits.

Read more:

Health plan premiums are rising: How employers can control costs

"Another way to focus on employees is to deliver communications that are relatable and useful. Self-recorded testimonials, interactive decision tools and branding that embodies the heart of the organization all create the opportunity for employees to feel a personal connection. Also, consider the timing, and energize the look and feel of your communication pieces. In or out of open enrollment, leading employers are providing benefits and tools that help their workforce become better consumers of healthcare, navigate a complex healthcare system and keep their health, well-being and happiness in balance while staying on budget."
—Larry Chim, Dallas health business leader, Mercer

Speak directly to different communities

"There are a couple of ways we communicate to different segments of employees. If we have a client with a multigenerational workforce, we will provide different communication types for the employees. For example, we have found that older employees prefer written materials while Gen Z and younger millennials prefer obtaining information through audio and video platforms. If the client has employees from different cultures, it is important to understand all cultures and find out the way they prefer to receive information. In some cases, the presentation style, terms and examples that work for one culture do not with another."
—Andrew McNeil, principal, and Rosario Avila, benefit adviser, Arrow Benefits Group

Show, don’t tell

"We need to move to teaching employees how they can appropriately engage in the healthcare system at their time of need. Instead of telling them their deductible is $X, let's share with them how they can find the highest quality surgeons, the most cost-effective ways to source prescriptions and the most important phone number to call or text if they are confused."
—Ben Conner, CEO, Conner Insurance