Preparing for open enrollment: Benefits literacy a linchpin for success

• Key Insight: Learn how combining human guidance with AI is reshaping benefits decision-making.
• What's at Stake: Poor literacy risks misenrollment, financial exposure and workforce disengagement.
• Expert Quote: Advisers must teach "kitchen-table" language, says Brown & Brown managing partner Erika Illiano.
• Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

This is part 3 in an on-going series. Read part 1 and part 2.

Benefit selection is critical to the success of open enrollment, but it has long been an uphill climb for employees who struggle to understand their insurance coverages and industry jargon. Toss in the difficulty of navigating a complex U.S. healthcare system and it's no wonder that working Americans would much rather devote more time to preparing Thanksgiving dinner than enrolling in their benefits.

Perry Braun, president and CEO of Benefit Advisors Network, believes that advisers need to do a better job equipping the populations they serve with the knowledge needed to make better benefit choices at open enrollment. 

He stresses the importance of health and benefits literacy to ensure that plan members understand information relative to their health, as well as know how the medical delivery system works and plan design is constructed. While a technology-led approach is all about speeding up communication, he says human guidance actually shapes the quality of information through recommendations and empathy.

Read more: Preparing for open enrollment: Generational tipping point shaping adviser strategies

Any effort to improve health and benefits literacy will be tied to the need for remedial instruction to explain inherent complexities. Erika Illiano, a managing partner at Brown & Brown, reports that one of her employer clients uses the phrase "kitchen table language" to convey their preference for explaining benefits at open enrollment. 

"Everything in benefits can feel so technical and complicated," noting the importance of unpacking all the industry jargon in a way that's understandable to employees and their families. "I sometimes call it weekend language so that it feels more accessible, conversational and relatable."

In the end, employers almost have to force their employees to pay attention because they could potentially lose coverage if there are any missteps. "A lot of times we're asking them to think about benefits at night or on the weekend when they go home after they've already spent hours thinking about all things related to work," Illiano says.  "So, we've got an opportunity to capture them during the work day with in-person events. And we're seeing a resurgence of the benefits fair and live town hall gatherings."

AI's helping hands

There's also "a wonderful opportunity" for technology to streamline different processes and workflows for not only employees and their dependents, but also the employer, Braun says. One component of technology that has improved over the past five years or so involves machine learning, a subset of artificial intelligence (AI), and chatbots, a computer program that simulates human conversation. 

Asked where they thought disruption was going to come from, brokers who responded to a recent EY-LIMRA survey unanimously answered AI. Chris Morbelli, EY's life and group insurance transformation leader, cites the potential of AI to tailor member experiences, benefits education, relevancy, utilization and value creation to help employees find benefits best suited to their unique needs.

Read more: How leaders can help address the health insurance literacy gap

Health plan members are able to use these tools to determine out-of-pocket costs based on their annual deductible status, examine different cost patterns of physicians in their community and shop for the right providers, according to Braun. For example, if a doctor instructs his or her patient to schedule an MRI to complete a diagnostic workup, the individual could use AI to vet facilities within the plan's preferred network. 

AI also can read satisfaction surveys that other consumers shared, he says, as well as comb through an individual's calendar to find their availability and schedule an appointment. 

"There's a concierge aspect to this that is very exciting for the future," he enthuses.