That's because of a lot of changes in benefits — increasing health care costs, a shift to high-deductible plans, and scaled down benefit plans. Oh, and that little thing we refer to as PPACA.

Some employees, though, are aware of some changes happening this year in health benefits and enrollment — and they're worried about it: 37 percent of workers believe it will be more difficult to understand everything in their policy this year.

"All of these changes require workers to pay even closer attention and have a full understanding of the benefit plans being offered to them," says Audrey Boone Tillman, executive vice president of corporate services at Aflac. "Not doing so may put them at high risk for higher deductibles, co-pays, or gaps in coverage that can result in unmanageable out-of-pocket costs if an emergency occurs."

Forget the "slowdown" in health care spending: Employees are spending more than ever on health benefits. According to Aflac, the average annual worker contributions for family health insurance coverage have increased by a whopping 89 percent from 2003 to 2013.

So it's not difficult to understand that enrollment this year is a big deal — but how come it isn't? Though everyone's quick to discuss reality television and (former) Disney darlings like Miley Cyrus, I've never once heard any coworkers (at any of my jobs) discuss open enrollment or what coverage they're enrolling in. That's alarming.

We already know health insurance education remains especially low among employees (and all consumers), so it's no surprise the oft-complicated enrollment period is a time most consumers want to ignore.

But the fact is brokers, carriers, employers and consumers all need to be in this together to bring awareness to health benefits. At the very least, thinking about health care and insurance needs once a year should be a bigger priority than reading the latest gossip news.