Open enrollment: Then and now

Opening the window

Consumers are tasked with decision-making responsibility and footing the bill for increasingly expensive and confusing plan choices. I see employers starting to realize traditional open enrollment is limiting employees in becoming better health care consumers. Employees are forced to make decisions about their health and well-being, but many don’t have the resources or time to make thoughtful, informed choices in the small enrollment window.

The biggest shift I’ve seen is employers breaking down their voluntary benefits offerings into quarterly roll-outs, offering smaller, themed enrollment opportunities throughout the entire year instead of overwhelming them once a year. I also see employers applying emerging technology like AI to proactively identify important moments and guide them towards electing the right products at the right time.

Communicating frequently and in a variety of formats is key to ensuring successful engagement. This includes sharing messaging on your core and voluntary benefits offerings through employees’ preferred communication channels to drive improved health literacy and benefit adoption.