Ever feel like employees are just going through the motions with their benefits enrollment? For a lot of employees, enrolling for healthcare and other benefits every year is just checking the same-old boxes over and over again. Whether or not they’re using their benefits to their highest potential, or even choosing what they truly need or plans which could improve their life, is generally up for debate.
As you’re prepping your employees to start their enrollment, why not send them a reminder of the things they should consider before, during, and after their benefits enrollment? It’s a quick and thoughtful way to show employees you care, and boost their wellbeing, as they truly explore the benefits offerings your company is providing.
Here are a few pointers for a quick check-in before open enrollment.
Get in Those Preventive Care Visits
This is a “now more than ever” moment. With the coronavirus pandemic in full swing throughout the United States, preventive care is more important than ever — and it’s completely covered by most insurance plans when done in-network. Recommended check-ups including immunizations, screenings, and other routine work may have been put off or skipped due to lockdowns, school closures, or quarantine requirements. Remind your employees to get these important healthcare boxes checked as soon as they can.
Research Network Hospitals and Specialists
Whether your employees are one of the millions who have put off elective medical procedures due to the pandemic, or they’re just making smart health plans for the upcoming year, researching their chosen plan’s covered hospitals and specialists is an important and often-overlooked task. Procedures involving hospital facilities could be difficult to schedule for a number of reasons in the coming year: the backlog of elective or non-urgent work which is being rescheduled, or the potential for viral surges in the community which close the hospital to non-essential procedures. Additionally, the savings of using an in-network hospital can be so substantial, it’s important to know which a plan covers before there’s an emergency requiring a hospital visit.
Consider New Benefits to Cover Insurance Gaps
Voluntary benefits are experiencing a new surge in popularity as concerned consumers begin to consider the costs of a long hospital stay or time in quarantine due to a COVID-19 infection. Increasing interest in voluntary benefits such as critical illness and hospital insurance is expected to be a key change in 2020’s Open Enrollment season. Make it easy for employees to understand with an explanation of how to calculate the monthly costs of benefits, along with the potential benefits of having a pay-out to cover household and medical expenses during a prolonged illness.
Open Enrollment always brings an overwhelming amount of new information to the table, which is exactly why so many employees look solely at plan cost per month, tick the box that seems the least painful, and move on without looking any deeper at their benefits options. The substantial new interest in healthcare this year should be recognized as an opportunity to help your employees not just enroll, but research and utilize the benefits that are right for them.
Do you need help creating effective benefits communication to your employees, or building an online resource to keep all of their benefits information in one convenient place? WBD can help! From communication tools to our fully customized Supersite, we can help your company reinvent your benefits administration. Learn more here, or contact us today.