Getting The Most Out Of Open Enrollment Falls To HR

For many companies open enrollment has already kicked off or will be starting in a few weeks, which means it’s up to human resource professionals to make sure their employees have all the tools necessary to make an informed choice. While it may be too late this year, after all experts say you should be prepping a few months in advance, there are some things you may want to offer employees next year, particularly in this environment where high deductible health plans are being adopted by more and more companies across the country. “With high deductible plans and even traditional HMO or PPO plans the number one piece that’s missing is education,” says Seth Ravine, Chief Revenue Officer at Acclaris, the healthcare software company. “Getting people to understand their responsibility in their healthcare decision” is something that many HR departments miss the mark on. Employees are in the healthcare driver’s seat Long gone are the days where employers would foot the bill for the lion’s share of healthcare coverage. These days most companies are passing more of the cost to their workers. As a result employees have to play a greater role in choosing the right plan and it’s up to HR to aid in that. According to HR expert Erin DeBartelo, in order for HR to help its employees, those who are involved with open enrollment need to be trained and know what’s changing and what is staying the same. She says there should be a checklist or tools to ensure all employees and other participants are included in any and all communications that pertain to health insurance. “Communicate with employees in advance regarding meetings and any upcoming changes,” says DeBartelo. “It is important employees are available for these meetings so they understand their benefits and the key deadlines to enroll in the benefits.” Avoid the paperwork; embrace some software While it’s common to provide employees with reams paperwork or online information, often the company leaves it up to the employee to navigate it all. A better way to approach it, says Ravine is to individualize the decision making so that employees can see what plans make sense for their health and financial situation. “HR groups have a chance to do that in a clear and concise way,” says Ravine. “Its way more meaningful than handing out a book and letting employees figure it out on their own.” In this era of short attention spans and overworked HR departments using software to automate some of the open enrollment process will go a long way in saving time and money. According to Stacey Pezold, vice president of operations at Paycom, the HR services cloud company one of the biggest challenges HR departments face is dealing with all the different paperwork required for just one employee. “HR often has to administer individual paper documents for health insurance, dental, vision, long-term and short-term disability and the list goes on,” says Pezold. “In fact, we estimate that an individual employee can receive anywhere from 12 to 30 printed documents during open enrollment.” In addition to using software to streamline all the physical documents required, Pezold says you want to be able to offer your employees remote access to their benefits. “From the comforts of their home, employees can see what their deductible is and also what benefits and coverage they are enrolled in,” she says. “This helps lessen the burden on HR as well, because employees can get the answers they need without having to reach out to their HR department.” Open enrollment doesn’t end with the plan selection Open enrollment doesn’t end once the employee chooses his or her plan. According to Ravine, particularly with employees in a high deductible health plan, it’s up to the HR department to ensure they are using their plan in the most cost effective manner and that they are getting the most bang for their buck. It also behooves HR departments to make it easy for employees to access all their free benefits like wellness and preventive care. Those services go a long way in keeping employees healthy and thus reducing overall healthcare costs. “You have to make sure people understand just because the doctor tell you they need to do something that’s not the only option,” says Ravine. “The power of a high deductible plan is if you need a MRI you get to shop around.”