3 questions employees are asking about their employer’s health plan this open enrollment season
With employee satisfaction top of mind, employers are looking for ways to educate employees about their benefits so they can make informed decisions.
Open enrollment is the time for employees to reevaluate how their benefits are serving their unique situations. Whether due to changes in their employers’ benefit offerings or their family’s health care needs, open enrollment requires employees to make some decisions — even if it’s simply the choice to stay covered with the same plan from the previous year.
Making a change to one’s benefits, however, can be daunting, especially in today’s complex health care landscape. The reality is that much of the workforce equates “good” group health insurance with affordability and ease of use, so it’s in an employer’s best interest to ensure their employees have a solid understanding of their benefit offerings.1 That understanding may also improve employee satisfaction with their employer-sponsored health plan and their employer in general.
What do employees want from their open enrollment experience?
When employees are changing their benefits, they may have specific questions around providers, prescriptions and costs, but recent consumer research also showed that they want the open enrollment experience to include more general information and education about benefits.2
96%
of enrollees prefer a digitally driven open enrollment experience2
The survey also showed how important transparency is in the open enrollment process. In fact, 89% of enrollees want the capability to compare plan options and get answers to their questions.2
Recognizing how important it is to educate employees about their health care options, UnitedHealthcare supports employers with materials that help them educate employees as they prepare for open enrollment and that help them make an informed plan decision for their situation. Field Account Managers can pick and choose the resource materials that fit an employer’s specific health plan to help ensure employees are getting the most up-to-date information.
Want more open enrollment support?
UnitedHealthcare has a dedicated open enrollment and onboarding team who is committed to working alongside employers and providing them with tools and resources to ensure that their employees have the support they need to make informed decisions about their benefits.
Open enrollment support includes:
- Calendars to map out benefits education strategy
- Checklists of open enrollment tasks
- Access to educational videos on everything from "tips to choosing a health plan" to "how a plan works"
1. How much is health care going to cost me?
Before switching to a new health plan, employees understandably want clarity about costs. They want to know what will get taken out of their paycheck each month for health insurance, as well as what their deductibles and copays will be. In fact, these are the most influential factors to employees when selecting a health plan, according to research.2
That means, employers may want to consider cost-sharing opportunities, such as covering a percentage of their employees’ health care contributions or reducing their deductibles or maximum out-of-pocket costs.
Employers can also encourage employees to sign in to the UnitedHealthcare® app or myuhc.com® to get cost estimates for care based on their specific health plan. In addition to giving employees clarity over the costs associated with any new health plan (and resources on how to access that information for themselves), employers should also highlight some of the benefits offered with a $0 copay, such as 24/7 Virtual Visits for eligible members. Employers may also want to highlight benefits that help support employees as they pay for health care.
2. Will I be able to access the providers I need?
People get attached to their providers. If employers are asking employees to consider a new health plan, they may want to see whether they will have access to the doctors they trust for themselves and their families.
Using the UnitedHealthcare app or myuhc.com, employees can see which providers are recognized for quality and cost-efficient care. Plus, employees can also view and compare cost estimates between different providers.
Another way to help employees make more informed decisions when it comes to selecting a provider is to offer health plans like Surest® a UnitedHealthcare company, which provides cost and coverage information in advance that can help factor into employees’ decisions about what provider to see and where to receive that care. Employers can help highlight the value of these plan designs and capabilities with their employees, or they can reach out to their FAMs, UnitedHealthcare representatives or broker or consultant for assistance.
3. How can I ensure my prescriptions are going to be covered?
Understanding whether prescriptions will be covered by medical insurance is critical to many employees, especially those that rely on access to certain medications, and UnitedHealthcare understands that. In fact, UnitedHealthcare was the first to make 5 vital medications — albuterol, epinephrine, glucagon, insulin and naloxone — available to eligible members with a $0 copay.
As more and more drugs come to market, UnitedHealthcare follows a screening process to ensure a drug is safe, effective and delivers value in line with the price charged by its manufacturer before determining its coverage status. Members can also see if their prescriptions are covered via the UnitedHealthcare app or myuhc.com. With integrated medical and pharmacy benefits, members may also rest assured that they are directed to lower-cost medications and care settings when clinically appropriate, regardless of which benefit may be covering treatment.
Along the way, employees may have questions that require more help, and that’s where Advocacy services from UnitedHealthcare can step in to provide answers by phone or chat.
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