alex presents: ready, set, plan!

By David Daskal Benefits Communication Expert, Jellyvision

presents…

Ready, Set, Plan! How to Learn from 2015 and Set Yourself Up for Success in 2016

© 2015 The Jellyvision Lab, Inc. All rights reserved. NOTICE: We have put a lot of work into this webinar. Please don’t take this material and put it into your own material without first talking with us. Seriously.

Your host, David Daskal

•  Benefits communication expert

•  Supermarket free sample expert •  Author of benefits-themed haiku

•  Lover of anagrams

We survived!

Now what?

Today, we’ll talk about:

• Conducting a productive post-OE review

• Creating a helpful early 2016

benefits communications plan

Taking Stock: How to Conduct a Post-Open

Enrollment Review

Plans never go…as planned

“What Went Well?” and

“What Could’ve Been Better If…”?

1. Reflect on your 2015 OE goals • What were you trying to accomplish specifically

during OE this year?

• Consider both hard and soft goals

2. Make a WWW – CBBI list

What Went Well: Could’ve Been Better If:

•  Benefits questions to HR went down by 20%

•  All employees successfully enrolled in benefits

•  401(k) contributions went up by 30%

•  Communications materials were well-received by C-suite

•  Traffic to benefits portal didn’t

cause downtime •  We hit our CDHP enrollment

goal •  More employees enrolled

earlier in the open enrollment process

•  We had more traction with voluntary benefits

3. Critique your 2015 benefits communications Ask how you might you have made your messaging: • More eye-catching and engaging • Easier to scan or digest • Less confusing, or boring, or overwhelming • More timely

4. Survey your employees

Sample survey questions

1.  How effective were our communications in helping you make confident choices about your benefits?

•  Effective •  Somewhat effective •  Neither effective nor ineffective •  Somewhat ineffective •  Ineffective

2.  Would you prefer if we texted reminders about HR matters to you rather than email?

•  Yes •  No

3.  Which parts of choosing benefits feel most confusing – and what might we do to help you understand better?

5. Choose two guiding words for next year

Planning Ahead: Identifying Your Early 2016 Benefits

Communications Priorities

Benefits messaging themes for Q1 2016

1.  New plan reminder messaging 2.  “Fresh start” wellness messaging 3.  What the heck is a 1095 form?! messaging

New plan reminder messaging

•  Provide FAQs about pharmacy visits, doctor visits, and HSA reimbursement

•  Walk employees through interpreting an EOB form

•  Promote price transparency and cost comparison tools

What about high deductible plans?

•  Send email the first week of January

•  Send a follow-up message the week plan cards arrive in the mail

• Use a third-party explainer tool

How to communicate it:

“Fresh start” wellness messaging

Smoking cessation programs

Health and fitness programs

Financial wellness programs

•  A poster and/or

banner ad campaign

Ideas for communicating about health-related programs

•  An email sent

first 2 weeks of January…with links

Ideas for communicating about health-related programs

Ideas for communicating about financial wellness programs January: •  Send an email about

budgeting

•  Create a newsletter, private Facebook group, or blog

•  Tie end of year bonuses with messages about investing

Ideas for communicating about financial wellness programs February: •  Send an email reminder

about 401(k)s

•  Send a reminder to join your group or follow your blog

•  Send your financial wellness newsletter!

Ideas for communicating about financial wellness programs March:

•  Send reminder emails about FSA fund deadline

•  Send “Tax Day is coming” message about the benefits of FSAs and HSAs

Form 1095 messaging

•  What is this new form? •  Why am I getting it? •  What do I do with it? •  Do I owe more taxes because of it? •  How many of these will I get? •  Do I send this in somewhere or what? •  How will I know if I did everything right?

Anticipate their questions:

Create clear, simple answers

•  Use clear, ordinary language

•  Consider creating a FAQ list

•  Add visuals!

Create a multi-platform communication plan

•  Emails •  Postcards •  Posters •  Intranet pages •  Fliers with paychecks?

JANUARY - FEBRUARY   MARCH - APRIL   MAY - JUNE   JULY -AUGUST  

PROMOTE: Pricing transparency, prescription transparency  

REMIND EMPLOYEES:  You can make HSA changes, FSA fund deadlines  

EXPLAIN:  How the deductible works    

REMIND EMPLOYEES:  About HSA flexibility    

PROMOTE: Budgeting tools, 1095 awareness  

REMIND EMPLOYEES: Tax advantages of HDHPs    

REMIND EMPLOYEES: About pricing transparency    

REMIND EMPLOYEES:  About HSA reimbursement    

REMIND EMPLOYEES: How HSA funds work  

PROMOTE:  Free preventive care, provider’s EOB resources    

PROMOTE:  Provider’s EOB resources  

*Begin preparing your Open Enrollment materials  

REMIND EMPLOYEES:  How HSA reimbursement works  

  PROMOTE:  The value of low premiums!    

2016 Benefits Communication Theme Calendar

Let’s review!

1.  Reflect on your goals 2.  Make a “What Went Well/

Could’ve Been Better If” list 3.  Conduct benefits communication

critique 4.  Survey your employees 5.  Choose two guiding words

Taking Stock

1.  Send new plan reminder messaging 2. Stagger “Fresh start” wellness messaging Jan- March 3. Create helpful 1095 FAQs – and a communication plan by Jan 2016

Planning Ahead

THANK YOU!

David Daskal Daskal@jellyvision.com

www.meetalex.com