Are you prepared for open enrollment in a digital world?

By Andrew Monk, Manager Benefits Education
The Cason Group

With a global pandemic continuing to affect the workplace, many businesses will be conducting open enrollment for 2021 with a remote workforce. Do you have a plan in place to ensure your employees are educated to make informed decisions during open enrollment? In order to have the best plan in place, employers and their brokers need to know how both the group and employee level communication will be performed while also considering how the enrollments will be taken.

For employers, we recommend establishing a multi-channel communication strategy to educate your employees that avoids the one size fits all communication strategy. A successful strategy could include elements of the following:

• Timeline of your communications
• Webinar meetings to educate and allow opportunities for questions
• Educational videos
• Mix of communication channels to fit your employee’s preference – phone, email, text messages and calendar reminders
• Customized communications with your insurance provider to emphasize key updates

Once your group communication strategy is clear, you need to be able to answer the question “How can you best support employees during open enrollment?” First, take a look at opportunities where additional communication and education is needed on major changes or previously misunderstood and under-utilized benefits. Once these areas have been identified, considering pairing it with personalized enrollment support which is available through phone or virtual appointments. Utilizing enrollment support can grow employee’s awareness about how their health care decisions can impact their benefits and also make sure they have a strong understanding of what the different benefit options mean to them.

Finally, taking employee enrollments has been presented with a new challenge when your workforce is remote. If you have been putting off implementing an online open enrollment system, COVID-19 has proven the need for flexibility and the power of digital resources. Now is the time to implement a Benefit Administration system. Find the system that’s right for your organization, there are numerous options and I even know a few folks who could help you make a decision!

The Cason Group

With more than 30 years of experience, The Cason Group partners with insurance advisors to help them exceed client expectations. The Cason Group offers a full-service team to support advisors with group benefits, voluntary enrollments, individual medical, financial services and technology integration. For more information visit thecasongroup.com.