Open Enrollment is over. Now what?

Open enrollment is over, and you’re getting ready to breathe a sigh of relief.

☑️You’ve made your decisions about your employees’ benefits for the new year

☑️Open enrollment meetings were a success

☑️Everyone has enrolled, and

☑️You’ve sent elections to your insurance carriers.

But now that open enrollment is over and the heavy lift is behind you, what’s next?

1. Communicate with your employees about their benefits

It’s important to make sure your employees understand their benefits and how to use them. Put your benefits administration software to good use by sending targeted communications based on the benefits and plans they’re enrolled in. Consider offering one-on-one sessions with an HR representative or benefits counselor to answer questions, provide personalized guidance, and equip employees with key information.

2. Encourage your employees to use their benefits

Encourage employees to *benefit* from their benefits package — that’s what it’s there for, after all! Whether it’s using vacation time or taking advantage of wellness programs, make sure you are actively promoting this as often as you can. Not only will this help them lead healthier, happier lives, but it will also help to improve morale and productivity in the workplace.

3. Keep an eye out for cost leakage

Benefits are a significant cost for your organization, so it’s important to keep an eye on your spend throughout the year. Don’t overlook the necessity of scrubbing the invoices from your carriers each month. If you’re a wizard with Excel, use this to your advantage! Set up templates and use them to reconcile the data from your carriers against the benefit election data in your enrollment system each month. Or, look to your insurance broker or benefits technology provider for outsourcing solutions to streamline the billing reconciliation process for you.

4. Stay up to date on compliance changes

Laws and regulations regarding employee benefits are constantly changing, so it’s important to stay informed. Things like ACA reporting and COBRA administration require constant monitoring and tracking. Make sure you stay up to date on legislation, and that you have a solution in place that can easily adapt and keep you in compliance with any changes.

5. Review your benefits package & start preparing for next year’s open enrollment

Take some time to review your benefits package to make sure it’s meeting the needs of your employees. Are there gaps in coverage or areas where you could improve? Do some research to learn about current trends. Benchmark your benefits offering against other organizations. Survey employees to find out what matters most to them, or what benefits they actually care about. Now is a good time to start planning for next year’s open enrollment period.

The bottom line — open enrollment may be over, but there’s still so much you can be doing to make your employee benefits program a success. Stay informed, keep benefits top of mind for your employees, and help them to make the most of their coverage.

Get in touch

Give us a ring, send an email, or fill out the form below. We endeavor to answer all inquiries within 24 hours on business days.