Long story short: Your open enrollment cheat sheet

October 21, 2022 11:05 AM

Make this your year to conquer open enrollment and get your organization's healthcare benefits spending under control.

New research from Mercer reveals that plan costs per employee will see a 5.6% increase in 2023. Employers should take the time to reevaluate their health plans and make sure employees are properly educated on their options, using surveys and transparent and consistent communications. Top advisers shared their best strategies to cost-cut and maximize the reach of your healthcare offerings.

"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," says Larry Chim, Dallas health business leader at Mercer. "In an ultra-competitive labor market, it has never been more important to maximize the results of your investment in benefits."

These efforts can help prevent employees from putting off treatment altogether due to financial strain — nearly a third of employees have avoided seeking medical care in order to save money, research from benefits platform Elevate found. If you want healthy employees and you want to save money on healthcare, check out our top stories of the week for everything you need to know.

7 ways to make open enrollment a success

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," Stephen Durso, associate director of client service and delivery at Willis Towers Watson Health and Benefits, tells editor-in-chief Stephanie Schomer. "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." Durso and other benefit pros share their go-to strategies.

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7 ways to make open enrollment a success

Health plan premiums are rising: How employers can control costs

According to HR consultant Mercer, U.S. medical plan costs per employee will rise by 5.6% in 2023, 1.2% higher than last year — and premiums will rise with it. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that Affordable Care Act plan premiums will see a 10% hike, a number that does not bode well for employer-provided plan premiums, which are on average 10% higher than ACA premiums.

What will this mean for employers struggling to provide affordable options for their workers? Associate editor Deanna Cuadra speaks with Christine Cooper, CEO of Aequum, a company that protects employees from unjust medical bills, to break down the rate hikes.

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Health plan premiums are rising: How employers can control costs

Healthcare, or financial security? Empower employees to choose both

In the face of economic uncertainty, employees are being forced to make difficult choices when it comes to how they spend their money. At times, those cost-cutting efforts can mean gambling with their health — 28% of employees reported putting off a screening or wellness check to save money and 14% reported postponing a necessary medical procedure or delaying getting a prescription filled, according to employee benefits platform Elevate.

"Everyone has basically had a whole month's paycheck disappear due to inflation," Brian Cosgray, Elevate's co-founder, tells associate editor Paola Peralta. "Are people making trade offs that affect their healthcare? And if so, how can we help them?" He shares his top strategies to help employees weather challenging choices.

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Healthcare, or financial security? Empower employees to choose both

If you're not surveying your employees on their benefits this year, you're doing renewals wrong

Attention all employers who renew benefits on January 1: Consider this your wakeup call, writes Kayly Hill, director of strategic accounts at Nava Benefits. Now's the time to get your ducks in a row, expect the unexpected, and brace yourself for uncharted territory. One way to do so is to start surveying your employees on the benefits they want — and need.

If you want to build a benefits plan that supports their unique needs while showing them that their input is valued, you'll need to give them opportunities to voice their opinions. Hill shares why employee surveys are a secret weapon to getting open enrollment right.

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If you're not surveying your employees on their benefits this year, you're doing renewals wrong