Open enrollment: Then and now

“How is enrollment season different from when you started in the business? How have you adapted?”

Opening the window

Consumers are tasked with decision-making responsibility and footing the bill for increasingly expensive and confusing plan choices. I see employers starting to realize traditional open enrollment is limiting employees in becoming better health care consumers. Employees are forced to make decisions about their health and well-being, but many don’t have the resources or time to make thoughtful, informed choices in the small enrollment window.

The biggest shift I’ve seen is employers breaking down their voluntary benefits offerings into quarterly roll-outs, offering smaller, themed enrollment opportunities throughout the entire year instead of overwhelming them once a year. I also see employers applying emerging technology like AI to proactively identify important moments and guide them towards electing the right products at the right time.

Communicating frequently and in a variety of formats is key to ensuring successful engagement. This includes sharing messaging on your core and voluntary benefits offerings through employees’ preferred communication channels to drive improved health literacy and benefit adoption.

Misty Guinn, director of benefits & wellness at Benefitfocus

Help me help you

The open enrollment environment has completely shifted over the 12 years since I started in the industry. We think of the one time a year where a broker or carrier attends a meeting to facilitate group presentations and update employees on changes. For so long, we assumed that by standing in front of a room talking about deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance and networks, that we were educating employees. But if we don’t understand how people learn, how can we educate them? What does it take to educate and engage an adult—especially on a topic that isn’t that interesting?

The idea of a “consumer-driven” health plan curving costs and helping the end-user was not effective. Each individual is very different; some want a high level understanding of plans and offerings, some want to dive deep into how it will affect them and their families, others are looking to understand how to be true consumers of health care.

This last one is the most important, because people are now trying to understand how they can impact their out-of-pocket costs. Education and engaging employees in many different forms is most effective. Leveraging technology, texting, videos, storytelling, one-on-one meetings and examples of how health care can be managed have all proven to deliver the results employees are looking for. Enrollment is no longer a simple in-and-out annual process.

Open enrollment has turned into a year-round education and engagement process. Employees want to be self-sufficient and understand their benefits, but have never been given the proper tools and support.

Braden Monaco, partner & healthcare strategist, Blue Horizon Benefits

Balancing act

With open enrollment season upon us, one of the biggest challenges we increasingly deal with is pairing new technology with traditional forms of education and engagement. In this current environment, where employers are asking their employees to shoulder the cost and responsibility of benefits, they are also moving away from 1-on-1 consultations and group meetings in favor of self-service platforms.

While technology certainly eases the back-end administration, relying on it solely often leaves employees confused and without a real understanding of benefits. Moreover, placing benefits on a self-serve platform with little to no personal education has proven to dramatically lower participation in voluntary benefit programs. To the detriment of employees, employers and carriers, lower participation drives inferior pricing, plan design and underwriting scenarios. In addition to a better understanding of voluntary options, traditional benefit consultation allows for greater appreciation of employer-funded benefits, such as disability, life and dental.

That said, technology must be paired with human interaction and it is incumbent on today’s advisors to strike the right balance.

Kevin Kennedy, benefits consultant, TriBen Insurance

Reactive to proactive

Enrollment season used to seem like an annual reactive event that I prepared for in August and September. Now it feels more like part of an ongoing fluid process. It’s part of a proactive five-year strategy. It also feels a lot less stressful than it used to.

Rachel Miner, founder, Thrive Benefits

Be prepared

I think the biggest change has been the technology piece. Open enrollment can be streamlined by having a platform where the employees can do their enrollment. Our clients often ask to conduct Skype or webinar enrollment meetings instead of face-to-face so it can be recorded for future use.

As for advice, the more organized you are and the earlier you start, the easier it is. The quicker you get the ball out of your court, the quicker it is on the client to make the decision. Also, build in buffer days for clients so you’ll always get everything well in advance. Make your calendar a friend by scheduling everything from creating enrollment kits to quotes to submissions. This allows you to have a life even when things get crazy.

We also encourage people to leave the office earlier during open enrollment. I know that sounds crazy, but we all know that employees work from home. I’d rather they get home and finish their day there than not get home until 9 pm. Get your rest, go to the gym and take Airborne!

Susan L Combs, president, Combs & Company

Start small

I have seen incredible changes in what employers are demanding from their broker, and thus what is being provided. When I started four years ago, our data showed brokers favored benefits booklets and posters.

While the traditional enrollment guide isn’t going away anytime soon, employers have come to expect a multi-channel approach to content, and the best brokers have stayed ahead of this curve. One size certainly does not fit all and video, postcards, infographics, animations, emails, texts, guides and more are all part of today’s expectations.

Our partners now ask for enrollment materials starting as early as Q1. With health literacy as low as it is, employers are more open to educating employees far in advance of open enrollment. Nothing is off the table when it comes to preparing employees for enrollment. To those who feel like they are falling behind or are intimidated by the idea of a robust content strategy, I’d say start small. It takes very little to have a postcard printed for employers to mail home. The simple act of alerting the whole household to open enrollment dates can go a long way. Find what works for each group and then build from there.

Jamie Nelson, team lead, Market Specialists, Zywave

Lost in translation?

I am sure you have heard a great deal about technology and how it can facilitate enrollment and recordkeeping. One downside, however, is Google Translate. While this platform (and similar ones) can be extremely helpful in delivering short, clear messages, it cannot be relied upon to educate employees as to how benefits work.

We’ve seen a popular and excellent platform use Google Translate for its Spanish portal, with disastrous results. The tab “Back” was translated as “espalda,” which in Spanish refers to your anatomical back. Also, ZIP code was translated as “cremallera,” which means “zipper.” This kind of carelessness sends employees who don’t speak English the message that the plans were not really designed with their needs in mind, and that nobody cares about their experience. In addition, longer, more complicated text often gets completely garbled. So while technology can provide tremendous advantages in the benefits industry, it’s risky to rely on cheap or free solutions. Be sure to do research and careful QA.

Melissa Burkhart, president, Futuro Sólido USA

Get with the times

Historically, brokers would wait until Q4 to do renewals, education and strategy sessions with the client and employees. The types of changes that are needed today to mindset, contributions, empowerment, resources, etc. should start outside of OE. If done this way, OE is devoted to reviewing the changes, continuing the mindset education and exploring/demoing resources so that employers and employees can confirm the choices that they have made along the way. Reinforcement and signatures are what OE should look like in the group market.

Karen Kirpatrick, owner, On Your Mark Consulting

Early bird gets the client

When I started, I awaited the carrier renewal offer and then began marketing options, setting up potential transitions and executing open enrollment. Now, I proactively start three to four months prior to the renewal, earlier for larger cases, to discuss how things have been running and clean up the data to begin to market the plan. We can then immediately decide whether to fully underwrite, move carriers, change benefits, or introduce new programs.

Clients must realize it is a disservice if a broker begins the marketing process only when the renewal is in-hand. For those looking to grow their book, having meetings early and pointing out some of these broken retention strategies may be a way to get the client sitting on your side of the table. If the client realizes that their incumbent is not performing at the same standard, then you have built a strong connection with them and effectively distanced the other brokerage. While this is a relationship-driven market in many parts of the country, value and diligence should still come first.

Niko J. Caparisos, health and welfare consultant, Prosperity Benefits, LLC

You are not alone!

The biggest difference from when I started 21 years ago is the integration of technology and the shortened attention span of the employee population.

We have adapted with ongoing integration of HRIS and ben admin systems, along with apps during enrollment and throughout the plan year. Strategic planning with the C-suite and HR has increased to ensure that the company’s message and mission is carried out and that communication resonates with the culture. We suggest including vignettes and sketches that are brief and edutaining.

To someone starting out or fearing that they are behind: “You are not alone!” Draw a line in the sand and get started. We spend time looking at what other firms are doing and try to identify the best-in-class enrollment strategies based upon the size of the group.

We find that many organizations are way behind the times themselves and require some ramp-up time to improve their own open enrollment strategies as they exist today. Laying out a strategic plan to improve upon open enrollment does not have to happen in one season, as it should be a living and breathing strategy. Start with the basics and build a strategy to improve upon the process.

Kareim R. Cade, president & CEO, Great Lakes Benefit Group, LLC.

Delegate and automate

The most obvious difference between enrollment season now compared to when we started is the volume of work. It’s crazy around here during fourth quarter, so we’ve automated quite a bit with technology solutions, which has helped.

Also, we are having much different conversations with clients and prospects now. The cost of care and delivery has become the focus, which requires us to review and analyze data instead of just spreadsheeting insurance options. Staying ahead of the curve is a challenge, but we try to do that by identifying the leading cost drivers in a company’s claims experience and focusing there.

My advice would be to delegate busy work, leverage technology, and focus on the frequency and severity of claims within the group. That is, if you can get the data.

Josh Butler, president, Butler Benefits