Turning Over a New Leaf
Typically this is a phrase used to describe new beginnings, a new and fresh way of looking at things. While we often think of Spring as a time of renewal, for lots of us, Fall is also a time of renewal, also known as reenrollment.
It can seem like a daunting task to collect comprehensive benefit information to compare and contrast different offerings. This is true of an employer who has to make decisions regarding what benefits they are able to offer and of an employee who has to make decisions about which benefits are valuable to them and at what level they would like to participate.
As an HR professional I encourage all employees to set aside 60 minutes a year to truly review your benefit package, examine how you used your benefits in the past year and use that information to inform your decisions for enrollment for the upcoming year. For example, if your employer offers an HSA, it’s important to know how much of those deposited HSA funds you used. This helps you determine next year’s savings goal. It is also very important to know how much of the unused funds in your HSA are allowed to roll over into the next year and the deadline by which you must use or lose any funds.
As an employer, early communication with your employees is a great start. Developing a detailed checklist of necessary steps, benefit providers contact information, and deadlines for submissions is critical to not missing a crucial step in the process. Having a presentation from your "Employee Checklist for Healthcare Reenrollment" broker or administrator in advance of re-enrollment time can be a real help to employees and relieve you of the pressure of having to have all the answers. Additionally, the opportunity to have employee questions answered in real time promotes efficiency and "Employee Checklist for Healthcare Reenrollment". A detailed and clear re-enrollment form, with clearly identified deadlines, is another important tool to streamline the re-enrollment process.
ACT can help you develop a reliable process to ensure a smooth re-enrollment period for you and your employees. Take a look at our checklist and feel free to contact us for more assistance.
