The leaves haven’t started to change colors just yet in Massachusetts, but for many employers, Labor Day marks the beginning of “Open Enrollment Season.” We’re going to devote a few blog posts to Open Enrollment Season tips for both employers and employees. Here are a few to get started.
- This is a great time of year to double check beneficiary designations, both on the group/supplemental life plans and the retirement plan. Family situations change, and keeping beneficiaries current is a good idea. We occasionally get a call from a plan administrator who lost an employee to a tragic accident, and the employee never updated his beneficiary when he got remarried. This can make a challenging time even more difficult.
- Employees should be reminded of the value-added services offered by their insurance carriers. Discount programs, employee assistance programs, travel assistance programs, telemedicine, will preparation, cost comparison tools, wellness incentives, weight loss programs, and gym reimbursements are all examples of underutilized offerings from the insurance companies.
- If you’re changing health insurance companies or pharmacy plans, employees might want to fill existing prescriptions before the renewal date if they are able to do so.
- Speaking of prescriptions, be sure employees and family members know they can save money with mail order programs with most plans.
- Speaking of changing carriers, mental health providers and formulary lists are often different. Let employees know where they can find the lists of covered providers and medications on line and how they can nominate providers to be added to the network.
- A comprehensive communication plan can not only improve employee satisfaction and engagement, it can sometimes save both employees and plan sponsors money. Take the time to develop a solid strategy to educate employees on the best ways to use their plans.
We’ll cover additional tips in an upcoming post. In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us by phone at (866) 724-0008 or by clicking the button below.
