If you're like 80% of US employers, you've recently wrapped up open enrollment (OE) for the coming plan year. If things went well, congratulations! If OE didn't go so well, hopefully, you've learned things to ensure a smoother process next year.
Regardless, it's understandable to want to close the book on benefits enrollment until next year and focus on other priorities. Before you do that, review the process and take steps to ensure that everything related to employee coverages and associated payroll deductions will work as expected in the coming weeks. Follow this simple checklist to ensure ongoing success.
Complete these tasks before December 31
- Confirm that all carriers have successfully uploaded your employees' elections. Presumably, you would hear if there were problems, but you'll sleep better knowing this process is complete.
- If employees won't have their ID cards by January 1, develop a communications plan to ensure they know how to access their coverage without a card. Doing so will relieve the anxiety commonplace among employees when they don't have a physical (or digital) card when needed. (It will also cut down on calls to HR asking, "Where's my card?")
- Audit your payroll deduction file to confirm it reflects deductions based on the new rates and contributions and that all data loads correctly.*
- Review end-of-year compliance reminders to ensure your organization is current with any new or updated laws or regulatory requirements affecting benefit plans and/or employers.
Complete these tasks within the first two months of the new year
- Audit your self-billed or list-billed invoices for at least the first two months of the new year. Check for accuracy of enrollment and rates to ensure that they correctly reflect the information you provided. Correct any identified errors as soon as possible so they don't reoccur.*
- Develop and implement a communications plan to educate employees about using their benefits. Typically, employee messaging about benefits focuses on choosing benefits, but employees and employers can save money when employees are smarter about how to use their benefits most effectively. Decision-support technology is available to help both in choosing and using benefits. Your benefits administration platform may include decision-support functionality. Contact your benefits advisor for help locating technology that meets your needs.
- Test your life-event functionality if this was your first online enrollment. If you got a late start this year implementing an online benefits enrollment solution, you may not yet have set up life-event functionality. Don't wait for an employee with a life event to discover a glitch in your system.
- Review enrollment metrics and compare them to previous enrollments to identify trends in healthcare spending accounts and voluntary benefits enrollment. Use surveys and focus groups to solicit feedback from employees. Consider this information when making decisions about future benefit offerings.
- Take a moment to thank all those who helped make open enrollment happen, including your carriers, technology service providers and benefits advisor. Everyone is stressed this time of year, and a kind word now may serve you well down the road when you need their help. If you experienced problems with online enrollment, engage your benefits advisor and service provider to discuss how to improve things for next year.
A significant majority of employers have moved off paper enrollment to an online platform in recent years. As with all technology, glitches can occur. Take time to evaluate how well the platform worked. Then, ask yourself if you need more from your system or want to replace it to meet new needs.
Gallagher can help
Our team of HR technology experts can help your organization assess online enrollment and other needs, identify best-fit products in the market, and even help with implementation — all in support of your people strategy.
*If you're not comfortable auditing your payroll deduction file or billing invoices (or you're unsure how best to do it), enlist help from your finance team. Some benefits administration and payroll systems include audit functionality. Check with your service providers about what is included in your tools.
