In our 2012 study, “MarketVision: The Employer Viewpoint,” companies identified two enrollment services among the items that were most important in choosing a voluntary provider: the quality of enrollment materials/communications, and the degree to which those materials are personalized for employees.

In the same survey, employers were asked which enrollment methods they preferred, and the shift to web-based platforms seems to be complete (the last large-scale survey was two years ago). In the 2,000-lives-and-over segment, most (70 percent) of employers would prefer a web-based platform that was separate from their core enrollment site, while 28 percent prefer an integrated web platform that enrolls all benefits. (Employers could select more than one method as being “preferred.”) In the 10-100-lives segment, 71 percent preferred web (separate from core) while 15 percent preferred an integrated web platform (all benefits). Each of the other methods trailed web platforms by large margins.

When asked how their last voluntary offering was actually enrolled, the picture looks quite different. The 2,000-and-greater segment is closest to their preferred state with 63 percent using a separate web platform and 23 percent using an integrated web platform. But the gap between preferred methods and actual experience balloons as the case size shrinks. Only 29 percent of the 10-100 segment used a separate web platform and 7 percent an integrated platform. Surprisingly, paper/self-enrollment and enrollments by HR staff are still fairly common in all segments.