Rising healthcare costs, complicated legislative changes, and an influx of competition have all contributed to increasing brokers’ workload in recent years. With open enrollment around the corner, brokers should start preparing to deliver the most competitive benefits with the least amount of additional effort.
Online enrollment is an excellent way to streamline the enrollment process, if done properly. Here are steps brokers can take to streamline open enrollment / online enrollment on their end, as well as help their clients ease the process for employees:
1. Invest Some Time in Planning and Organizing
You can set yourself up for success by planning ahead. Investing a little time into research makes sure you’re up to date on the latest regulations and legislative changes to ensure compliance.
Then, you can gather whatever informational and supporting materials you need to educate your clients and help them answer questions from employees. This is where a benefits administration platform becomes extremely useful because it has:
- A document library to keep important forms and documents on hand.
- Enrollment walk-throughs paired with decision-support to reduce time and confusion on both ends.
- Real-time updates to manage deadlines.
Getting ahead of the open enrollment process can help prepare both you and your clients with any last-minute issues that may pop up.
2. Go Paperless
Replacing paper enrollment forms and physical educational pieces with digital versions is beneficial for brokers, clients, and employees. It reduces the amount of time and effort spent organizing and storing paperwork and documents. Further, it removes the possibility of human error when it comes to document creation, distribution, and storage.
Rather than dealing with the hassle of physical paperwork and unreliable filing systems, you can provide clients with all the relevant documents and links on an easily accessible benefits administration platform.
Employees can utilize an administration platform that is available 24/7, walks them through the enrollment process in 5 minutes or less, and is available on mobile devices.
3. Centralize Employee Information
Urging clients to integrate all benefit and enrollment information on one platform helps their employees see deductions, coverage details, and personal information in real time. It prevents redundant data entry and other human errors that would occur when working with multiple platforms.
You can provide your clients everything they need to organize and integrate their information with one automated platform.
4. Give Employees the Tools to Make Informed Decisions
The laws that dictate enrollment are always changing, so brokers have to stay up-to-date and ensure their clients are prepared. When clients have access to important resources ahead of time, they can ask questions and become comfortable with their employees’ benefit options before enrollment.
We already discussed how an automated benefit administration platform can help with this, but now let’s take it one step further.
Instead of taking the time to create and distribute documents outlining the plan options for each client, and fielding the countless questions that will come after, let the platform do the work for you.
In a benefit administration software platform, employees can compare different plan options and receive suggestions for plans based on what matters most to them. This gives the employee the power to make an informed decision, and lessons the burden on employers and their brokers.
5. Communicate Openly
Be sure to make yourself available to answer any questions or offer feedback before, during, and after the enrollment process. It may sound time-consuming, but the proper technology can actually streamline your role in client education and follow-up communication. Benefits administration platforms allow brokers to send important information to hundreds of consumers and employers with the click of a button.
Innovative and easy-to-use technologies like Clarity and Employee Navigator can make the online enrollment process simpler than ever before. They reduce human error, keep information organized and accessible, and ensure employees have the opportunity to choose the best possible benefits packages.
Streamlining the enrollment process can help you address the growing needs of your business, keep you competitive, increase commissions, and open new revenue opportunities. We work hard to make your job easier. Learn more about Clarity’s offering, or take a look at Employee Navigator’s robust offerings here.
Sources:
