Are you frustrated with the entire benefits process, wondering if anything will ever change? Managing corporate benefits is becoming a year-round challenge, between the communications leading up to open enrollment, changes, and questions during the process and then cleaning up any problems that occur for months after your enrollment period is complete. It probably seems as though your staff members never truly understand their benefits well enough to use them properly, while internal HR teams might still struggle with having the right tools available to answer questions quickly and effectively. Fortunately, there are some ways that you can boost the overall efficiency of your benefits program by partnering with your insurance professionals to take full advantage of the tools that may already be available.
Online Access to Annual Enrollment Improves Efficiency and Accuracy
With any luck, you are no longer relying on a paper-based annual enrollment process, as there are myriad dangers associated with this type of enrollment. With paper enrollment forms and processes, sensitive or confidential information is exposed to a broader range of individuals, making your life more difficult during an audit. Plus, your staff members may not be comfortable filling out multiple printed forms as they lose control of their personal information and where it is being stored. Utilizing an online annual enrollment process helps improve efficiency and accuracy by putting the staff member back in charge of managing their own information and access to their personal details.
Comprehensive Worksheets Showing Estimated Costs for Standard Procedures
One of the main questions that benefits professionals receive is from staff members that are attempting to determine the cost of specific procedures. Key examples may be common procedures such as wisdom tooth removal, appendectomy, Cesarean section or hysterectomy. Having intuitive worksheets either online or in another interactive format can help your staff members appropriately use their medical benefits and make the correct decisions for elections in the coming year.
Enhance Community Outreach with Detailed Timeline
Are you confident you know exactly when to start reaching out to staff members with information about the coming benefits enrollment period? You might be surprised how much it benefits your organization when communication starts early -- many months before your open enrollment period. Ongoing, scheduled communication helps your staff members stay in tune with their benefits offerings and maintain a working knowledge that will help them get through enrollment periods without excessive questions or concerns. Creating an ongoing timeline for communications with your various constituents can also help you stay organized so you're sure not to miss any deadlines that could hit during a busy period of your year.
Detailed Breakdown of Offerings and Prices
Employee benefits options can be remarkably confusing, especially for individuals that only review their options once a year. Having a detailed breakdown of each of the medical, dental, vision and insurance options will help your staff members feel more in control of their benefits and help them make better decisions about their elections. This detailed breakdown of offerings and the associated prices can also ward off some early questions -- helping your staff stay engaged in other projects and not finding themselves answering benefits questions throughout the year.
Are you interested in improving the efficiency and accuracy of your annual employee benefits enrollment process? The professionals at Eureka can help! Contact us at 916-742-7842 to schedule a free consultation with our team of benefits experts or download our free PDF checklist 10 Steps to Increase Efficiency and Accuracy During Open Enrollment for some self-help options that will get you started. Having the right tools and processes starts with ensuring you have a proactive employee benefits professional on your side and can make a world of difference between a smooth enrollment period and an extremely bumpy start to your benefits period.
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