Any type of change in life can be frustrating and unnerving, particularly when you are making a change that will affect hundreds or even thousands of employees. You want to know that you’re making the right decision as getting the wrong provider or plan can dramatically change the success of your open enrollment period — not to mention the costs to your organization of making a poor decision. With all of this pressure, it can be easier to simply stick with your current provider because you are comfortable with how the process works with them. Instead of sticking with the comfortable, here are some options that will help you make the leap to researching and potentially even selecting a new partner for your corporation.

Network with Colleagues to Learn Best Practices

Who are other organizations of your size using for health plans? Changing health plans doesn’t happen overnight, and meeting with other colleagues to discuss their experiences with various companies is often the best way to get the “real story” behind their health plans. While certain details such as pricing will often be confidential, you can easily discuss the quality of support that you receive and compare and contrast other non-confidential aspects of your core health plans. Even a quick check-in with a colleague can net you valuable information, and perhaps even open your eyes to opportunities for cost-savings or ways to improve the quality of care that your staff members receive without boosting costs out of control. Who knows, you might even get exactly the tip that you needed to make your next open enrollment period flow more smoothly and efficiently!

Work with Your Insurance Professional

There’s nothing wrong with shopping around, and an insurance professional who is working in your best interest will be anxious to help you. When you have a strong and positive partnership with your insurance team, they should be able to provide you with all of the reasons that they are still the best solution for your business. Customer satisfaction surveys, professional stories or reviews are all ways that you can help weigh the market to ensure you have the right team of professionals backing up your business. This can help mitigate overhead for your staff by having a solid resource on your side. Working with your insurance professional closely is also the best way to ensure that you are taking advantage of all available cost savings, something that can come up during annual reviews.

DOWNLOAD NOWBenefits Insights: Annual Open Enrollment Checklist

Read Industry Research

There is a never-ending stream of changes to the healthcare industry, and staying up-to-date can be quite a challenge. While your insurance partner may be able to help you with generalized information, digging deep into industry research allows you to see the current and upcoming issues that will be affecting your corporate health plans in the future. With the aging population in the US, health insurance continues to trend up and this isn’t expected to change in the near future. With more individuals opting into group health insurance and new legislation affecting the industry, it’s vital that you are well-informed and able to make good decisions about health insurance options in the future. A few research options around the healthcare and health insurance industry include:

• IBISWorld: Market research reports, industry SWOT analyses, market conditions and more (Some information is free, while details are available by purchasing the full report)
• Allied Market Research: Strong overview of the opportunities and forecasts in the global health insurance market (Some information is free, while details are available by purchasing the full report)
• Insurance Information Institute: Details include an overview of the industry at a glance; health insurance information included with other insurance options (Free)
• National Association of Insurance Commissioners: While published, in 2018, this 10-year snapshot of the US health insurance industry has excellent insight and details of costs over time

When you’re ready to get serious about your next open enrollment period and deciding on a change in your health insurance plans, contact the professionals at ESIS at 916-248-4777. Our team of friendly and knowledgeable professionals will share our wide array of tools and resources to help you make the right decision for your business. While you’re getting started, download our free pdf:  Open Enrollment Checklist. That way you can be sure you’ll never forget a detail during your open enrollment period again!

DOWNLOAD NOWBenefits Insights: Annual Open Enrollment Checklist