Company Healthcare Plan Shopping: Help Your Employees Make Good Choices

Helping your employees pick the best Healthcare Benefits need not be daunting. Your employees may not know how to choose the best benefits for their needs. Here’s how to improve the process for them.

Step 1: Decode “insurance speak”

Employees may be familiar with the insurance terminology in their healthcare plan descriptions, but they may be confused about some of the meanings. Providing employees with a glossary of terms and definitions can help clarify plan provisions.

Step 2: Comply with plan laws

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act mandates that anyone who administers a benefits plan must provide participants with a written explanation of the plan’s rules and operations, how it’s managed, and the financial information associated with it. Plan administers must regularly and automatically deliver some types of plan information to participants, while other kinds of information is available to participants through written requests.

Step 3: Improve employees’ choices

Offer benefits that address employees’ unique needs. Employers can help workers improve their plan selections by recommending that they factor in their personal circumstances or major life changes when choosing coverage, such as their:

  • Medical condition
  • Family size
  • Finances and age
  • Marriage or childbirth

Step 4: Respond to employees’ questions

Employers should be ready with responses to workers’ questions about their healthcare coverage. The most frequently asked questions vary by organization, but some of the most common inquiries deal with:

  • Plan costs, eligibility, and operations
  • Enrollment deadlines
  • Differences in healthcare accounts
  • Cost sharing
  • Excluded services

Step 5: Fix open enrollment

Workers may feel pressured to review and select their healthcare plans within a limited time frame. Therefore, keeping open enrollment uncomplicated can help reduce employees’ stress.

Here’s an open enrollment list to help.

Want more detail?Read the full article at Workest.com.