If your employees don’t know what their healthcare covers, the results could cost your company. Recent studies point out that a majority of employees avoid doctor’s visits or prescribed medication due to costs and confusion over their coverage. As a result, many employees are underserved by the healthcare plans your company is providing, with potentially detrimental effect on their health.
Make Information Available Year-Round
The old benefits packets and guidebooks are no match for today’s digital-first environment. Employees traditionally spend little time familiarizing themselves with plans when they enroll, so it’s unlikely they’ll retain knowledge of coverage months down the line when they are faced with physical or mental health issues. Instead, make sure all plan information is available whenever employees want it — via a digital platform, mobile-friendly website, or app.
Work on Year-Round Communication
Reminding employees regularly about the many benefits available to them keeps everyone informed. Consider seasonal benefit talking points that push time-sensitive or relevant topics like FSA spending or back to school physicals. Remind employees about offerings like EAP, or send a short tutorial on ways to find an in-network doctor for annual check-ups.
Offer Something for Everyone in the Workplace
Multiple generations are working together, but they prefer to absorb information in different ways. They also prioritize differently. From retirement options for Baby Boomer employees, to explaining HSAs to Gen Z employees, there are plenty of opportunities to provide short info bursts with links to more robust educational offerings within your benefits platform. Building a communication plan which takes everyone’s preferred means of communication and priorities into account can help with engagement rates.
Start Open Enrollment Education Early
It’s never too soon to get employees thinking about better ways to engage with their benefits. Strategies which include multi-tiered communications, including emails, digital booklets, texting, and beyond can all help illustrate the many options available to employees. If you don’t have a plan for office and web portal communications, check out our Open Enrollment digital communications package.
Robust communication strategies and easily accessible, 24-7 information about healthcare coverage can make the difference between an employee workforce which actively utilizes their benefits and one which suffers from chronic underutilization. Which group will your employees fall into?
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