2024-25 Open Enrollment Trends

This article originally appeared on the American Fidelity Blog

Employers know that each open enrollment season presents unique challenges and opportunities. With enrollments bound to change year to year, how do you keep up with the needs of your employees?

An important step is to be aware of the current trends. Listening to what similar industries are doing and the needs of your employees is a great start. So, let’s explore the trends you’ll want to explore prior to your next enrollment.

Enhance Employee Education

According to Stratus HR, communication surrounding benefits ensures higher employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention.¹ Even with increased communication, employees still need more benefits education. The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries states that about half of employee’s don’t understand their benefits.²

Employers are now taking steps to provide their organizations the benefits education they need before the time of enrollment. Courses, webinars, workshops, and online or virtual benefits fairs are all trending education methods. Having these options readily available year-round may help guarantee that your employees truly understand their benefit options.

Evaluate the Increased Costs

The price of healthcare services continues to increase. In fact, healthcare spending is set to grow an average of 5.6% between 2023 and 2032.³ Employers should continue to evaluate whether their benefit options are suitable for their employees’ financial situations.

As costs rise, employees prioritize coverage and become more invested in their financial choices. This leads to the need for a greater understanding of their options, as it becomes essential to avoid out-of-pocket expenses.

Form Unique Plans

As mentioned, each enrollment is rarely the same. This may be true for your employees as well. It is important to offer benefit plans that meet your employees where they are, year after year. Life changes or adjustments in coverage priorities vary for all people and influence what they enroll in. Consider offering a variety of benefits with multiple plan designs to meet the needs of your diverse workforce.

Provide Options of How to Enroll

Online enrollment has become the new norm for time savings, convenience, and a streamlined process. However, this can be a change for some who have not used a digital method before. Even with online enrollments growing in popularity, nearly 90% of employees find in-person, one-to-one meetings the most helpful.⁴ If you choose to have an online enrollment, keep in mind that your employees still deserve guidance throughout the process.

With your next enrollment around the corner, now is the time to assess your goals and ensure you have a strategy ready. Being aware of these trends is the best way to make your employees feel heard during the enrollment season. The efforts put behind the open enrollment experience could impact the overall satisfaction of employees and organizational success.

This blog is up to date as of July 2024 and has not been updated for changes in the law, administration or current events.

^{1 https://stratus.hr/resources/how-to-communicate-benefits-to-employees#:~:text=Why%20is%20it%20important%20to,enhancing%20job%20satisfaction%20and%20retention, Accessed July 2024.}

^{2 https://www.asppa.org/news/why-it%E2%80%99s-critical-employees-understand-their-benefitspackages#:~:text=Still%2C%20nearly%20half%20of%20employees,they%20do%20not%20fully%20understand, Accessed July 2024}

^{3 https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-healthcare-spending-rises-48-trillion-2023-outpacing-gdp-2024-06-12/#:~:text=Spending%20is%20set%20to%20grow,in%202022%2C%20the%20data%20showed, Accessed July 2024}

^{4 Source: LIMRA, 2023 BEAT Study, Benefits and Employee Attitude Tracker, used with permission}