Five Open Enrollment Trends that Demand Employer Attention

Open Enrollment Trends for 2015 TOP5TRENDS Each year, employers and their benefit partners tweak their strategies to fit their employees' needs. Health care reform continues to shape the marketplace-along with rising costs and an appreciation for healthcare consumerism-and employees are seeing more changes to their healthcare benefit design, distribution, and delivery. Open enrollment for 2015 benefits is in full swing, and post-election data will shed light on how employers and their workforce are responding to ACA provisions such as the Employer Mandate. Until these insights are revealed, here's a look at some of the trends in the employer-sponsored healthcare benefits marketplace this open enrollment season: Requiring Active Open Enrollment 90% Engagement is the buzzword of the year. Employers and their benefits partners are doing more than ever before to educate employees on their coverage options and make sure they of employees simply keep the same benefits year-after-year. maximize their benefits. That's why many HR departments are taking their annual open enrollment process from passive to active-requiring employees to actively engage in the benefits election process rather than default to last year's elections. Offering Consumer-Driven Health Plans In 2014, offerings of CDHPS jumped from The marketplace has been watching the rise of high deductible, lower premium healthcare plans, which are usually paired with 39% to 48% a Health Savings Account (HSA) or Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA). While shifting some of the costs and healthcare management to employees, these programs help among employers with 500 or more employees.? curb costs for employers, especially those anticipating the 2018 Cadillac Tax-not to mention the upcoming Employer Mandate. Total enrollment in Exploring Private Exchanges private exchanges is Cost-management, administrative efficiency, and ACA-compliance: these are among the benefits of working with a private health expected to reach insurance exchange. Plus, they provide an easy way for million employers to offer a range of healthcare insurance options and 40 supplemental benefits to their employees. Private exchanges are by 2018.3 a great solution for employers using a defined contribution healthcare benefits strategy. Maximizing Wellness Programs 98% of large Employers today want to drive improved workforce health. Healthier employees tend to be more productive and generate less medical bills, after all. Wellness programs are becoming a more popular firms (200 or more way for employers to help support employees' healthy lifestyle initiatives. And when paired with financial incentives (e.g. cash workers) offer at least rewards or gift cards for participating in certain activities) or even deterrents (e.g. penalties for practicing unhealthy habits, like one wellness program.4 smoking), they can do more to shape a company's wellness culture. Embracing Technology 41% of benets Every player in today's healthcare system is leveraging technology of benefits to get the job done. Consumers, providers, employers, carriers, TPAS-all across the board, stakeholders turn to tech to streamline process, effectively communicate, and even deliver/receive care. Various decision support and cost transparency tools are helping decision-makers plan to increase their technology spending next year.5 employees make important healthcare benefit decisions for 2015, while operations professionals use specialized programs and web-based services to analyze trends, communicate with benefits partners, and remain ACA-compliant as more provisions take effect. SOURCES: 1 Aflac's 2014-2015 Benefits Open Enrollment Guide for Employers Healthcare Trends Institute 2 Mercer National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans 3 Accenture report: Growing Pains for Private Health Insurance Exchanges www.HealthcareTrendsInstitute.org 4 Kaiser Family Foundation's 2014 Employer Health Benefits Survey © Copyright 2014. Healthcare Trends Institute. 5 Employee Benefit News survey: Adopting benefits administration technology: What employers need to know PPPP LLLL