Basic Care You Should Expect From Your Broker After Open Enrollment
They say it's never done until it's done, and your broker sure does owe you some residue of responsibility post-open enrollment. Because, like it or not, enrolling your employees in the best employee benefits packages is not the last of it. When that calendar finally turns, it'll come with its challenges. So, you need a broker that understands that their crunch time season for open enrollment goes beyond the start of the new year. And knowing the post-enrollment duties of a broker should help you set suitable standards beforehand, consequently ensuring you stay equipped pre and post-open enrollment. That said, this article covers the post-enrollment duties of a broker, meaning what you should expect from your broker. But first, let's look at how open enrollment works for companies and brokers.
Open Enrollment for Companies
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) specifically dedicates the open enrollment period to companies and individuals that need to change, renew, or enroll in proper health coverage. This yearly practice allows every company to update its health package, including the employee benefits package.
So as an employer, you can choose to engage in the open enrollment season either through the federal marketplace – which runs between the start of November and the 15th of December – or using the state-recommended dates – which can differ from state to state as long as the deadline for submission remains the 15th of December.
And for individuals or employees, the Affordable Care Act provides what is known as a special enrollment period to give leeway to cases where enrollment was not possible within the open enrollment season.
Usually, this requires a life event trigger, like having a baby, in which case, the special enrollment period gives an individual 60 days to enroll in a health plan after the said life event. The extension is awarded on a case-by-case basis.
All the same, the Affordable Care Act open enrollment season is a time for employers to assess whether their benefits package is prudent for attracting and retaining top-talent employees.
Open Enrollment for Brokers
As for the broker, the open enrollment season starts long before November. Metaphorically, the broker is the company informant, meaning they must be articulate where health insurance and employee benefits for companies are involved.
As such, the broker hitherto learns about current trends in employee benefits, common barriers employers are likely to face when sourcing and enrolling in health insurance, and health options that form the best benefits package for employees.
Once the broker immerses in this information, they must create a personalized benefits package option for their client. The goal here is to ensure employers and employees alike access the benefits they need while reducing costs and improving satisfaction levels.
It requires an acute understanding of the health insurance options and how they affect different groups and individuals in the workplace. This cannot happen unless the broker prepares themselves beforehand to conduct the best open enrollment season for companies and their employees.
And yet, the broker's work is not done once the 15th of December rolls over. An avid broker offers basic care services post-enrollment to enrich the company and its employees further.
After Open Enrollment Basic Care Essentials
Once open enrollment is complete, your broker should provide these basic care tasks before and after the season ends:
Ensure You Have the Necessary Resources
One thing your broker can do better than you is ensure you have the right resources to enact your health insurance adequately throughout the year. That means ensuring you have all the necessary resources at hand and on time.
For example, employees should receive new ID cards for their benefits packages after open enrollment. And sometimes, the administration in charge of distributing these cards might delay or make delivery mistakes. Your broker should ensure the carrier gets the IDs to each employee successfully.
Also, remember that health insurance benefits change year over year regardless of whether you keep to the same policy or carrier. Preserving the dignity of your benefits package means staying informed of any changes and how they impact employee benefits packages.
To that end, your broker should collect and distribute insurance literature that informs all your workers of updated health insurance nitty gritty.
Examine your Employee Accounts
It is in your best interest and that of your broker that every employee is adequately onboarded and proficient in managing their benefits package because that is their responsibility. However, some of these packages are too complex for employees to understand.
And others find the use of modern technology and online accounts intimidating. As such, your broker should, at the very least, provide the right onboarding program to support your employees and check on the employee accounts regularly.
The check-up should continue until your employees can easily access, maneuver, and manage their accounts. Another thing, every employee should know how to check their pay stubs. That means knowing the deductions incurred on primary health insurance options or any additional plans in their employee benefits package.
If and when withholding mistakes occur, your employees should be prepared to handle the terms of withholding without breaking a sweat. A suitable broker will teach your employees to check their pay stubs and follow up effectively when mistakes occur.
Offer Year-Round Availability for Assistance
Within the year, you are bound to face specific challenges when managing your health insurance details. For instance, consistently keeping up with compliance and tax issues can be challenging, especially for small businesses with minimal resources and support staff.
Your broker's support can help you make essential strides in keeping up with tax and compliance obligations for the sake of your business and employees. And since they are well-informed about the intricacies of navigating such issues, their support will make your work easier and give you peace of mind.
Audit your Open Enrollment Process
Just because something works appropriately doesn't mean it cannot be improved. Therefore, expect your broker to assess and audit your open enrollment process once the season ends. The wisdom of hindsight allows them to identify workflows and spaces that need more proficiency and efficiency.
For instance, some materials can be carried forward to the next season, thus, saving small businesses money. Or the broker can recommend an update to outdated systems to improve efficiency well into the future.
Keep in mind the value of employee feedback in the audit process. It will help you narrow down your health insurance to needed benefits and not merely wanted ones, ultimately saving you costs in the long run.
Let your broker create a survey for your employees to fill out every quarter throughout the year. And use this information to improve your employee benefits choices.
Secure the Right Kind of Broker
You can never go wrong with extra care and support. So, find a broker that cares for your business and workers post-enrollment as much as they do during the season. Ergo, you must articulate the post-enrollment duties of a broker when choosing the right one for your business. Because once the open enrollment season is over, you will need someone to champion the success of your benefits package. And this requires a diligent broker that follows up with your employees, keeps an eye on insurance updates, and keeps your carriers on their toes post-enrollment.
They say it's never done until it's done, and your broker sure does owe you some residue of responsibility post-open enrollment. Because, like it or not, enrolling your employees in the best employee benefits packages is not the last of it. When that calendar finally turns, it'll come with its challenges. So, you need a broker that understands that their crunch time season for open enrollment goes beyond the start of the new year. And knowing the post-enrollment duties of a broker should help you set suitable standards beforehand, consequently ensuring you stay equipped pre and post-open enrollment. That said, this article covers the post-enrollment duties of a broker, meaning what you should expect from your broker. But first, let's look at how open enrollment works for companies and brokers.
Open Enrollment for Companies
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) specifically dedicates the open enrollment period to companies and individuals that need to change, renew, or enroll in proper health coverage. This yearly practice allows every company to update its health package, including the employee benefits package.
So as an employer, you can choose to engage in the open enrollment season either through the federal marketplace – which runs between the start of November and the 15th of December – or using the state-recommended dates – which can differ from state to state as long as the deadline for submission remains the 15th of December.
And for individuals or employees, the Affordable Care Act provides what is known as a special enrollment period to give leeway to cases where enrollment was not possible within the open enrollment season.
Usually, this requires a life event trigger, like having a baby, in which case, the special enrollment period gives an individual 60 days to enroll in a health plan after the said life event. The extension is awarded on a case-by-case basis.
All the same, the Affordable Care Act open enrollment season is a time for employers to assess whether their benefits package is prudent for attracting and retaining top-talent employees.
Open Enrollment for Brokers
As for the broker, the open enrollment season starts long before November. Metaphorically, the broker is the company informant, meaning they must be articulate where health insurance and employee benefits for companies are involved.
As such, the broker hitherto learns about current trends in employee benefits, common barriers employers are likely to face when sourcing and enrolling in health insurance, and health options that form the best benefits package for employees.
Once the broker immerses in this information, they must create a personalized benefits package option for their client. The goal here is to ensure employers and employees alike access the benefits they need while reducing costs and improving satisfaction levels.
It requires an acute understanding of the health insurance options and how they affect different groups and individuals in the workplace. This cannot happen unless the broker prepares themselves beforehand to conduct the best open enrollment season for companies and their employees.
And yet, the broker's work is not done once the 15th of December rolls over. An avid broker offers basic care services post-enrollment to enrich the company and its employees further.
After Open Enrollment Basic Care Essentials
Once open enrollment is complete, your broker should provide these basic care tasks before and after the season ends:
Ensure You Have the Necessary Resources
One thing your broker can do better than you is ensure you have the right resources to enact your health insurance adequately throughout the year. That means ensuring you have all the necessary resources at hand and on time.
For example, employees should receive new ID cards for their benefits packages after open enrollment. And sometimes, the administration in charge of distributing these cards might delay or make delivery mistakes. Your broker should ensure the carrier gets the IDs to each employee successfully.
Also, remember that health insurance benefits change year over year regardless of whether you keep to the same policy or carrier. Preserving the dignity of your benefits package means staying informed of any changes and how they impact employee benefits packages.
To that end, your broker should collect and distribute insurance literature that informs all your workers of updated health insurance nitty gritty.
Examine your Employee Accounts
It is in your best interest and that of your broker that every employee is adequately onboarded and proficient in managing their benefits package because that is their responsibility. However, some of these packages are too complex for employees to understand.
And others find the use of modern technology and online accounts intimidating. As such, your broker should, at the very least, provide the right onboarding program to support your employees and check on the employee accounts regularly.
The check-up should continue until your employees can easily access, maneuver, and manage their accounts. Another thing, every employee should know how to check their pay stubs. That means knowing the deductions incurred on primary health insurance options or any additional plans in their employee benefits package.
If and when withholding mistakes occur, your employees should be prepared to handle the terms of withholding without breaking a sweat. A suitable broker will teach your employees to check their pay stubs and follow up effectively when mistakes occur.
Offer Year-Round Availability for Assistance
Within the year, you are bound to face specific challenges when managing your health insurance details. For instance, consistently keeping up with compliance and tax issues can be challenging, especially for small businesses with minimal resources and support staff.
Your broker's support can help you make essential strides in keeping up with tax and compliance obligations for the sake of your business and employees. And since they are well-informed about the intricacies of navigating such issues, their support will make your work easier and give you peace of mind.
Audit your Open Enrollment Process
Just because something works appropriately doesn't mean it cannot be improved. Therefore, expect your broker to assess and audit your open enrollment process once the season ends. The wisdom of hindsight allows them to identify workflows and spaces that need more proficiency and efficiency.
For instance, some materials can be carried forward to the next season, thus, saving small businesses money. Or the broker can recommend an update to outdated systems to improve efficiency well into the future.
Keep in mind the value of employee feedback in the audit process. It will help you narrow down your health insurance to needed benefits and not merely wanted ones, ultimately saving you costs in the long run.
Let your broker create a survey for your employees to fill out every quarter throughout the year. And use this information to improve your employee benefits choices.
Secure the Right Kind of Broker
You can never go wrong with extra care and support. So, find a broker that cares for your business and workers post-enrollment as much as they do during the season. Ergo, you must articulate the post-enrollment duties of a broker when choosing the right one for your business. Because once the open enrollment season is over, you will need someone to champion the success of your benefits package. And this requires a diligent broker that follows up with your employees, keeps an eye on insurance updates, and keeps your carriers on their toes post-enrollment.
Basic Care You Should Expect From Your Broker After Open Enrollment
Elton Mwangi
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