Now’s the Time to Prep for Next Year’s Open Enrollment: 6 Critical Steps

You’re likely knee-deep in open enrollment now. So it’s the perfect time to …

… start planning for next year.

Why now? Because employees make mistakes that can affect their well-being and wallets when it comes to benefits.

In fact, according to a Value Penguin/Qualtrics survey:

• 17% of employees don’t purchase enough coverage
• 41% buy too much coverage
• 28% don’t fully explore their options, and
• 26% miss the open enrollment deadline entirely!

Big Challenge with Open Enrollment

“The biggest challenge is getting employees to care while understanding the importance of choosing the right benefit package for their health and their wallets,” says Krys Conway, M.Ed, SHRM-CP, VP of Human Resources at Equinox Benefits Consulting. “It can be very overwhelming and confusing, especially with the rising cost of healthcare.”

So, yes, employees are likely overwhelmed and possibly confused with open enrollment now (HR pros included, if not more so, as you need to understand and explain!). And that creates the opportunity to help them get through this year’s open enrollment and prepare for next year’s.

The MOST important aspect about Open Enrollment is educating your employees about their benefits ALL YEAR LONG,” says Conway. “Then by the time next year comes, they are informed consumers. It should be a part of the HR process.”

So, consider these steps and tips critical tools for helping employees through open enrollment now and next year, and the next, and the next and the …

Prompt a Review

Before you start talking about next year’s benefits offering, encourage employees to take stock of current and past usage. If they understand what they use — and don’t — they’ll be better prepared to make the best decisions going forward.

Send an email prior to the open enrollment initial meeting (you may have already done that this year, so put an alert to do so for next year now!), encouraging employees to at least consider:

• how much of their deductible they used
• what benefits they used often
• what benefits they used the least or not at all
• if their deductible — whether it was low or high — worked, and
• if they may want a plan with a different type of deductible.

Meet Prior to the Meeting 

Don’t wait until the official open enrollment meeting to talk about benefits. It’s important because nearly 70% of benefits-eligible employees spend just 30 minutes reviewing their options during open enrollment, according to a 2023 Voya Financial survey. And most just choose last year’s options because it’s easiest.

Conway suggests, “A few weeks prior to the open enrollment, hold lunch and learns or Zoom meetings explaining the specifics of benefit options. For instance, explain the difference between the Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and the Health Savings Account (HSA).  Encourage them to consider electing one of those programs based on an upcoming expected medical expense.”

And if you communicated with them before this about the above-mentioned considerations, they’ll already be better equipped to make decisions.

Show the Value of Benefits

“The most important task for the HR team is getting employees to see the value of their benefits,” says Conway. “Open enrollment is the perfect opportunity to communicate that message to employees as it impacts employee retention as well as their health.”

But remember, this message is an ongoing one. When you talk about the value of their benefits, remind them to think about next year and beyond, too. Remind them to think about known or potential changes in their needs — such as pregnancy, childbirth, surgery, chronic illness, etc. At the same time, encourage them to consider well-being areas they might want to improve such as mental, financial or social.

On your end, lay out the numbers. Show them exactly what benefits will cost and how it will impact their paycheck. Some employers also show employees the potential out-of-pocket cost if they go forward without benefits. Of course, you only show numbers so they can compare — not to scare them.

Provide a Checklist

Conway suggests a checklist that employees can use throughout the open enrollment process. It’ll help them make sure they take care of everything, including gathering the information, making the comparisons, obtaining the right information, signing their documents, etc.

Here’s an example from her toolkit.

Spread the Love across Channels

No matter how often or early you communicate with employees about their benefits and open enrollment, mix up the media.

“Reaching employees in a variety of ways such as online and printed documents is critical,” says Conway. “Hold office hours where employees can stop by to ask you questions.”

Use your company communication apps — such as Teams or Slack — to reach them. Send email. Post information on break room boards. Send automated texts that they can opt into.

Become a Storyteller

When you do have open enrollment meetings, explain the benefits with stories and examples so employees can imagine their benefits in action.

“I tell the story of how my optometrist in my annual exam diagnosed severe Glaucoma when I used my preventative care visit as a part of my vision insurance. I had been having severe headaches but attributed it to something else,” Conway shares.

If you have employees who are comfortable sharing their successes using benefits, ask them to relay stories and outcomes, too.

Make This Just the Start

Now, don’t let down your benefits and open enrollment guard. Make education a year-round effort.

Offer regular lunch-and-learns to talk about resources and how employees can access them. Pick a benefit to highlight weekly or monthly in email messages or on the HR page of your internal communication app.

“Year-round education about benefits and their usage is critical to the success of the next Open Enrollment season,” says Conway. “Consistent messages keeping benefits top of mind will ensure a greater understanding of them for employees.”