There should be a human behind every health plan. Employee benefits communication that doesn’t stop after open enrollment.

Why do employees forget their benefits?

Employees forget their benefits because they hear about them once a year, all at once. Open enrollment is an hour of deductibles, co-insurance, and out-of-pocket maximums, and then nothing for eleven months. The first time most people think about their plan again is when they need care, and by then the details are gone.

The plans that need the most reminding are the ones that work differently from what people expect. An open network. Reference-based pricing. A plan where the employee has to call a care navigator, medical manager, or care coordinator before getting care. For a lot of people, the network is neck and neck with cost as the most important part of their health plan, so a plan that handles the network differently needs to keep explaining itself.

What do most agencies try first?

Most agencies try the open enrollment meeting and a benefits guide. Both are useful. Both happen once, and a PDF guide doesn’t remind anyone of anything in April.

The other thing agencies lean on is carrier material. I’ve never seen a carrier produce anything substantive or of value when it comes to marketing assets. A flyer about the carrier’s wellness app doesn’t tell an employee how their plan works, and it certainly doesn’t sound like anyone they know.

Wanna fix it?

Employees who forget their benefits between open enrollments get fixed with a year-round email program: education delivered a little at a time, reminders timed to the plan’s trouble spots, content made by a human, and automated sending that a person approves.

1. Trickle the education. One small idea per email. How to look up whether a doctor is in network. What the navigator actually does. What to do before a scheduled procedure. Small pieces, on a steady schedule, all year.
2. Get ahead of the issues. Start with where this plan confuses people. If it’s reference-based pricing, remind them how it works before they get a bill. If it has a care coordinator, remind them to call first. Constantly, especially inside a self-funded health plan.
3. Make the content human. Short videos, GIFs, photos, images, made by a person. When employees see a real face, they know there’s a human behind their health plan.
4. Automate the mechanics. The schedule, the send, the list of employee emails, the next piece in line. That’s the part the robots are good at.
5. Have a person approve every send. A wrong reminder about a health plan does more damage than no reminder.

What does it look like once it’s running?

Once it’s running, an employee gets a short email every so often with one useful thing about their own plan, often with a quick video from a real person. Before the moments that cause trouble, like a procedure or a new plan year, a reminder shows up first. The person steering it picks the topics and approves each one. The system writes the drafts, builds the send schedule, and keeps the list current.

I haven’t run one of these for an employer group myself. What I have built are the pieces it runs on: email cadences, a content studio that produced emails, articles, and ads for each client of a past employer, and a library of 30 two-minute lessons written at an eighth-grade level. The same lesson format works for a health plan.

Why bother? The collective benefit of good health is more than longevity and quality of life. It’s also financial. In a self-funded plan, the employer pays the claims, so employees who use the navigator and stay in network help the whole plan. And culture eats strategy for breakfast. Keep everybody engaged and the mood positive, and it’s a no-brainer.

Can you do this yourself?

Yes, for one group with one plan. You need an email tool the employer’s HR team can send from, a list of employee email addresses, and a calendar with one topic per month. Write each topic once, record a one-minute phone video to go with it, and schedule the sends.

Where DIY stops is many client groups with different plans. Each one has its own network, its own navigator, its own trouble spots, and its own list of employees coming and going. Keeping twelve sends a year accurate for each group becomes a job. One group, write it yourself. A book of groups on different plans, build the system.

Quick answers

What is employee benefits communication?

Explaining a health plan and other benefits to employees throughout the year, beyond open enrollment.

How often should employees hear about their benefits?

On a steady schedule all year, one small topic at a time, with extra reminders before the moments that cause trouble.

Which plans need the most reminding?

Open networks, reference-based pricing, and plans that require a care navigator, medical manager, or care coordinator.

Why does engagement matter in a self-funded plan?

The employer pays the claims, so employees who use the plan the right way help keep costs down for everyone.

Should the content be automated?

The sending can be. The content lands better when a real person makes it, especially video.