Open enrollment is fast approaching. That means only one thing: You’re about to be inundated with employee requests to change their health insurance plan, add new family members to existing policies, and otherwise modify coverage.
It’s going to be a six-week marathon through the end of the year, right when you can least afford it.
Fortunately, there are some things you and your team can do right now to prepare for the coming open enrollment season. Do these things and you might not take all the worry out of open enrollment, but you’ll at least be in a better position to manage what stress does flow your way.
1. Switch to a Payroll Solution That Includes Benefits Administration
First, set yourself up to success by switching to an open enrollment-friendly payroll solution for small businesses. Specifically, you want a payroll solution that not only offers access to a wide array of employee benefit administration like PTO and 401K tracking, but one that includes additional capabilities like handling health insurance and HSA direct deposit as part of its service. There’s no reason to use a third-party benefits administrator or send your employees directly to the insurer if you can handle everything in the same app.
2. Provide Detailed Information About Plan Choices Well in Advance of Open Enrollment
Knowledge is power. Arm your employees with as much information as possible about this year’s plan choices in advance of the start of open enrollment. Consider using some or all of the following tactics:
- Publishing a detailed guide to benefits for each plan (or linking to the insurer’s guide to benefits) on your company website or self-service HR platform
- Publishing a detailed but easy-to-read FAQ on open enrollment and specific benefits (especially health insurance plans) on your website
- Highlighting key benefits changes in companywide updates and publications (more on that in a moment)
- Linking directly to the appropriate health insurance marketplace (likely the SHOP health insurance marketplace if your business qualifies)
3. Point Employees to Insurers’ SBC Documentation (And Make Sure You Have That On Hand)
By law, health insurers must provide Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) information for each plan they offer no later than the first day of open enrollment.
Most are good about this; it’s the law, after all. You might need to follow up with individual insurance contacts to make sure they’re on track (and especially if they’re late). But in either case, refer employees to this documentation to ensure that they understand what’s in each plan directly from the insurance company.
4. Encourage Employees to Make Active Benefit Selections
When it comes to making important choices, active involvement is usually better than passive agreement. With that in mind, encourage (or require) your employees to make active benefit selections every open enrollment period.
You don’t have to force your employees to choose one of the plans you offer, of course. Many won’t for one reason or another. But if they choose to decline coverage, you want them to tell you that affirmatively. Otherwise, you can bet you’ll field inquiries after open enrollment ends from employees wondering why they weren’t able to make a choice this year.
5. Make the Case for Coverage
You won’t get 100% uptake on your offer of health insurance or any other benefit this year, but that shouldn’t deter you from making a positive case for coverage to your employees. Again, this is more about managing expectations and tamping down buyer’s remorse (or non-buyer’s remorse as the case may be) as open enrollment wears on and then ends.
You want your employees to understand the value in the benefits you offer. That means answering questions like:
- What are the advantages of choosing employer coverage over an alternative (or going without)?
- How will health insurance coverage, disability insurance, and/or dental and vision coverage affect take-home pay?
- When it comes to health insurance, what are the downsides of lower-cost plans that offer less coverage, like short-term health insurance?
6. Check in Often With Your Employees During Open Enrollment and Provide Teamwide Updates at Key Junctures
Finally, keep in close contact with your employees during the open enrollment period. Provide teamwide updates before, during, and after open enrollment using:
- Company-wide emails
- Internal social media announcements, if you have the capability
- Internal workplace chat communications
Designate a single lead, likely a member of your HR team, to answer questions and address concerns during the process. If your team is smaller, consider having this person schedule one-on-ones with each employee. And, crucially, make sure your employees understand what happens if they miss their chance to select benefits during open enrollment.
Make Open Enrollment Season Easier on Yourself and Your Team
Open enrollment will never be fun, but it can go much more smoothly for you than it has in the past. All you have to do is implement these six best practices.
None of these practices are difficult, but they can be time consuming the first time around. However, setting yourself up for success on the front end will save you time and money in the future.
Now that you know what to do, it’s time to get it done. Here’s to a brighter, smoother open enrollment period, with many more to come.