Benefit Trend: Passive to Active Enrollment

Businessolver believes that the future of benefits is engagement. In our opinion, passive enrollment is a thing of the past. Today, it’s all about getting employees to engage in their benefits by encouraging active enrollment for many reasons:

1. Employers want to reinforce the benefits they offer and the value they bring to the employee.

Forced enrollment is one way to help employees understand the employer-provided benefits offered to them by requiring employees to click through each screen, even if no action is required.

2. More employers are requiring employees to make annual decisions, which impact their total benefit cost.

These decisions may revolve around wellness, smoking and spousal benefits, which could result in reduced or increased premiums. Employees are also having to go in and choose HSA and FSA account elections. These requirements force employees to review their elections each year.

3. With an emphasis on healthcare reform and exchanges, employees are taking more of an interest in their benefits.

According to a 2011 study by Maddock Douglas, 84% of consumers think health insurance is important, but 30 percent of respondents also agree that “policies are too complicated for a regular person to understand.” Employees are beginning to understand the importance of healthcare, but it’s up to employers, carriers and benefits administrators to help them gain confidence and understanding in the decisions they make by meeting them with the right education in the right place at the right time.