Annual enrollment is over and so are the holidays. Time to relax and catch up on your paperwork. Or book that well-deserved vacation. Or, think about using the time to get strategic. Putting strategies in place NOW can help make your whole year go more smoothly and take away some of the annual enrollment stress at the end of this year.
A good place to start is your company’s wellness program, especially if you implemented something new. Capitalize on your employees’ New Year’s resolutions and encourage participation in smoking cessation, weight loss and exercise programs. Consider a January special incentive for participation to get the year off to a good start. Heart rate monitors, exercise clothing, water bottles and gym bags make great prizes.
This is a new plan year and your insurance plans may have changed. Employees might appreciate reminders and updates about the new plans. If this is the first year for a Consumer Directed Health Plan (CDHP) which might include a Health Savings Account (HSA), consider holding educational brown bag lunches to answer questions or concerns about how to maintain these accounts and take full advantage.
Keep the reminders going about spending FSA accounts; if your company has a grace period for last year’s reimbursements, send out reminders. Employees will be digging through receipts to get ready for tax time; it’s also a good time to review 2011 medical expenses.
Winter is blah time and many employees may suffer from seasonal depression or winter blues. If your company offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), they may appreciate a reminder that limited free counseling is available.
Suddenly, it sounds like you have a busy January, but time spent wisely now will enable you to have a less stressful 2012. And, after all, wasn’t that one of your resolutions?
