Benefits Open Enrollment - We’re Doing It All Wrong

You likely just completed the Benefits Open Enrollment process. For employees, it was probably an intense period with information overload and lots of questions (many just choosing the same options as last year because it’s just too confusing). For HR practitioners, chances are it felt like a thankless, redundant process.

We do our best to prep, plan, over communicate (through posters, emails, in-person Q&A meetings, booklets, websites, texts, mailings) and educate so everyone selects what’s best for them and their families. For as long as I can remember, it’s been this way with little change (except now it’s “digital”). But there’s a better way if we’re willing to challenge the status quo – and when you think of the cost of healthcare to employees and your company, as well as the importance of benefits in recruiting and retention, it’ll definitely be worth it.

Here are 4 tips to improve the employee experience and bring about more informed outcomes during Benefits Open Enrollment. 

1. Ditch the one-size-fits-all approach in favor of personalized communications based on employee cohorts. 

Right now the communications we send out treat all employees like they’re the same. Everyone gets the same letter or email that details all options and all costs which forces them to sift through information that may not be relevant, but is certainly more than they really need.

To improve this, take a cue from how consumer brands like Netflix, Amazon, and Spotify personalize their communications with customers at every touch point. You might say, “yeah but they have loads of money and technology.” True. But marketers have been doing this for as long as I can remember. (Just think about how direct mail or email marketing have always personalized communications.) Why not take the same approach for something as important and expensive as healthcare?! It’s easy to segment communication by a few key factors (like plan type and family status). We tried this at Newsela this year where we took one general Open Enrollment communication and turned it into seven customized messages based on cohorts (around things like office location, current medical plan election, and family status). It was minimal effort that garnered fantastic results and allowed us to take many paragraphs of information and turn it into simple messages that were hyper targeted and incredibly relevant to each participant. This helped each employee make smarter decisions based on cost, usage, and risk tolerance.

2. Invite employees to personalized Education or Open Enrollment Q&A sessions by cohort. 

Once you’ve segmented your employees into cohorts, customize your education or Q&A sessions similarly. It’s a waste of time (not to mention incredibly confusing) for someone who has no desire or appetite for an HSA Plan to listen to the questions of those who do. And worse to hear about a limited-purpose FSA if you’re not even eligible for one. (I know it’s easier to schedule several of the same meetings and let anyone join when they can attend. But the additional coordination and time is more impactful when questions and information are relevant to everyone in the room).

3. Create and share a Benefits Calculator so employees can truly make “apples to apples” comparisons of plans on their own time. 

This one is tougher, but doable. Some brokers or insurance companies get nervous about this because they don’t want to be liable for recommending any single plan. But some “directional” information is better than having employees make decisions virtually blind (or by overwhelming them with more info then they can digest). The communications company, Jellyvision, has an online bot called ALEX that does a good job. During the Open Enrollment process, employees can use it to get an ‘apples to apples’ cost comparison (including payroll deductions and out of pocket expenses) by answering a few questions around things like anticipated number of doctor visitors, specialists, and prescriptions. 

We didn’t use ALEX at Newsela, this year. Instead — with the help of our benefits broker — we created an excel-based Cost Calculator that allowed employees to see plan costs side-by-side by testing out different scenarios with anticipated expenses. This gave them focused information (on their own time) to choose the plan that made the most sense for them.

4. Use UX (user experience) design principles for your Open Enrollment web portals.

Insurance brokers and attorneys are focused on limiting risk and exposure, so they build portals with that in mind. And few employees complain about it because their expectations for these things are so low. Imagine what Open Enrollment would be like if Facebook or Amazon designed it. You’d have a navigation that is intuitive and personalized, with bite-sized information that is easily understandable. For example, the information needed when electing benefits during Open Enrollment is different than when you first join a company; and when there are company-sponsored benefits (like Basic Life) that are provided to everyone, an employee shouldn't have to “elect” it. 

So when you do you sit down with your broker or benefits team to do a post-Open-Enrollment check-in this year, there’s one theme you should bring up: personalization. It’ll help reduce some of the confusion (and stress) that open enrollment creates, and will dramatically improve your employee experience and their decisions. Your employees will thank you ... and the smarter healthcare choices they make will likely benefit your company.