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Top 5 Things to Communicate When Changing Health Insurance Carriers
Busier Than A...
The open enrollment period is the busiest time of any benefit professional’s year. Even those who have been through it for more years than we’d like to admit still get caught in the familiar traps at times. One basic rule of thumb we have learned:
“You can never communicate too much.”
Communication early and often is the key to a successful open enrollment. One of the biggest mistakes we see benefit professionals make is starting the employee benefit conversation too late. The most effective way to communicate benefits to employees is to do it all year long. By communicating about benefits throughout the year, employees not only value their benefits more, but they are learning along the way, so when enrollment arrives, they are informed buyers, able to make better benefits decisions.
However, not all information can be communicated prior to the open enrollment period. This is certainly the case when you are changing health insurance carriers. A change in health insurance carriers is never without some disruption for employees, but passing along some key information to employees as early as possible can alleviate a significant amount of disruption and anxiety.Top 5 Things to Communicate When Changing Health Insurance Carriers
- Check Provider Networks
Advise employees to visit the new health insurance carrier’s website to review the online list of providers. It is very important that they find out if their provider is a participating provider. Knowing this upfront can alleviate a lot of anxiety about changing health insurance carriers. - Search Prescription Drug Formulary
Direct employees to look up their medications in the new health insurance carrier’s online formulary listing. An employee who is taking a maintenance prescription should understand what tier their prescription will fall into with the new insurance carrier so they can see how it will affect their wallet. - Find Out About Step Therapy Requirements
Warn employees who are taking a maintenance prescription to check the website or contact the carrier directly to find out if their current medication is subject to Step Therapy requirements. Health insurance carriers sometimes require that an individual try an alternate drug before they will agree to cover the requested drug. The employee should involve their physician if a problem is discovered. - Review Medical Procedure Already Scheduled For New Plan Year
Encourage employees to contact their physician regarding the upcoming carrier change, particularly if they have a medical procedure already scheduled for the new year. Either the employee or the physician should contact the new carrier to determine if there is any additional protocol that needs to be followed prior to the procedure. - Set Expectations For Employees Getting New ID Cards
The earlier insurance carriers have the enrollment paperwork, the more likely employees are to receive their cards prior to the start of the plan year. Be sure to set the right expectations regarding when they will receive cards, and instruct them on how to print their own temporary ID cards from the carrier website.
Many employers feel their greatest challenge is reaching out to every employee and making sure that he or she is aware of everything that is available. This can be accomplished through mandatory enrollment meetings, or by using online enrollment tools.