Navigating Open Enrollment with Ease

August 9, 2019 | Connecting Iowa Dave Daniel, Director of Group Sales and Account Retention, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, DanielD@Wellmark.com

Open enrollment season is approaching quickly. And, this time of year tends to come with added stress on businesses everywhere.

According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 74% of organizations that helped consumers shop for health insurance said nearly all consumers needed help understanding the basics of health insurance.

At Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, we see open enrollment as an opportunity to support members in understanding their benefits. From start to finish, we’re there with tools and resources to ensure a smooth open enrollment period.

Regardless of resources, when it comes to open enrollment, consider the ABC’s:

  • Assess your employee’s health care needs. Whether you review your plans claims, hold a “town hall meeting” or take a company-wide survey, always be listening and evaluating the ever-changing needs of your employees and adjust.

  • Be active. Engage your employees when it comes to their benefits. Use an “active” enrollment strategy that requires employees to select the right health care plan and additional benefits they want, rather than passively selecting based on the prior year’s selection. Examples: Host lunch and learns, send out communications regularly, have 1:1’s.

  • Communicate, communicate and communicate some more. There’s no such thing as too much communication. No matter how many times you think you’ve shared something with employees, know that it takes a lot of messaging to get the message through when it comes to health insurance benefits.

    Regardless if you are a Wellmark client or not, Blue@Work can be your one-stop-shop for navigating a successful open enrollment period within your workplace. From tips and tricks, to creative marketing pieces, all you have to do is visit Wellmark. com/BlueAtWork and browse through the “Resources” tab to find what you need.

    If your employees are looking for additional education or resources when it comes to open enrollment and decoding their health insurance plan, send them to the “Plan Smart” tab on Wellmark.com/Blue.