How to Avoid Common Open Enrollment Mistakes

Open Enrollment is one of Arizona public sector employers’ most crucial times of the year. It’s when employees can choose the benefits that support their health, financial well-being, and families. However, many organizations run into the same open enrollment mistakes year after year, leading to unnecessary confusion, compliance headaches, and missed opportunities.

If you’re looking to improve participation and streamline the process, here’s a breakdown of the most common Open Enrollment errors and how to avoid them.

1. Waiting Too Long to Prepare

One of the most frequent Open Enrollment mistakes employers make is simply starting too late. When preparations are rushed, HR teams are administratively burdened, communication feels last minute, resources can be limited, and employees can get frustrated.

Here’s how to stay ahead:

• Establish a clear timeline early. Give yourself and your team at least 3-4 months before enrollment starts. Collaborate with your broker team to define (and stick to!) key deadlines for benefits finalization, plan builds and setup, compliance reviews, employee communication, benefit fairs, group meetings, webinars, and more.
• Engage your benefits providers at the start. Communicate to your providers your open enrollment plans, goals, and objectives, as well as past struggles and challenges to brainstorm solutions and improvements. Be sure to get all plan details, pricing updates, underwriting offers, and compliance information well in advance to avoid any last-minute surprises.
• Set regular check-in meetings and use automated reminders. Keep enrollment top-of-mind with your internal team and external broker and provider teams by scheduling weekly or bi-weekly check-in meetings, and updating emails, text alerts, or internal announcements.

2. Not Communicating Plan Changes Clearly

Many employees assume their benefits will stay the same unless told otherwise. One of the costliest Open Enrollment errors is failing to properly communicate plan changes.

Avoid confusion by:

• Providing a clear breakdown of what’s changing. Be sure to include premium adjustments, coverage modifications, eligibility changes, provider and network changes, and especially new benefit options in simple terms. We recommend a page near the beginning of your benefit presentation or guide highlighting what changes an employee should expect to see at this year’s Open Enrollment.
• Hosting informational meetings or webinars. Some changes require more than just a slide in your presentation or a page in your benefit guide. Consider hosting an informational webinar with the providers driving the change, offering Q&A sessions or one-on-one consultations to walk employees through the changes (and their choices).
• Using multiple channels. Not every employee will review a benefit presentation, guide, or attend a webinar. Be sure to distribute information on the big changes through a variety of channels, including your internal portal, internal email, posted flyers, direct mailings, managers, etc. Don’t rely on a single method.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) provides best practices for benefits communication.

3. Failing to Help Employees Understand Total Costs

Employees oftentimes only focus on monthly premiums, ignoring deductibles, copays, coinsurance, out-of-pocket maximums, and even their own estimated usage. This practice can easily lead to employees being either underinsured or overinsured.

To guide employees in cost-effective decisions:

• Communicate employer-paid contributions. Show employees the true value of the benefits they are offered by communicating how much your organization contributes to the cost. Not only will employees feel more valued by your organization, but they will also be more likely to participate in your offering, which reduces risk and per-employee cost over time.
• Break down total potential costs. Offer real-life examples showing estimated expenses, including premiums, deductibles, copays, and coinsurance if, say they need knee surgery due to a hiking injury. Real-life examples put the cost in perspective and also encourage employees to really think about their expected usage.
• Promote cost calculator tools. Many benefits providers offer free online cost calculators to help employees compare plans based on healthcare usage. Give employees an easy-to-go resource by including a link to a cost calculator tool in your employee communications, enrollment portal, benefits guide, and presentation.
• Explain tax-saving solutions. Highlight how Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) can not only lower their tax burdens but also help pay for estimated healthcare expenses using pre-tax dollars. You can find the latest IRS HSA/FSA limits here.

Read our latest blog, which offers helpful tips for employers to boost participation during open enrollment.

4. Overlooking Voluntary Benefits

Focusing solely on core health, dental, vision, and life insurance plans is another common Open Enrollment mistake. Voluntary benefits such as disability, accident, hospital, critical illness, pet insurance, identity theft, and so much more often get overlooked despite the financial support they provide employees in instances where expenses tend to run high – especially when dealing with an injury or illness.

Educate employees on these benefits by

• Communicate that these benefits are available and valuable. Make sure employees know what voluntary benefits are offered, the value of these benefits, and how they complement core plans. For example, if an employee injured their knee hiking and now needs surgery, an Accident plan would pay them for out-of-pocket expenses they incurred by their medical plan for going to the doctor, getting an MRI, having surgery, going to physical therapy, and more.
• Highlight group discounts. Offering voluntary benefits to your employees on a group basis automatically provides a huge discount on what they would pay if they bought this benefit on an individual basis.
• If offered, emphasize portability and guarantee issues. Check with your provider first to see if your voluntary benefit offering is both portable and offered on a guaranteed issue basis to initial entrants. Portable means employees can take them with them if they retire or transition to a new employer. “Guarantee issue” means everyone qualifies for coverage no matter their physical health or health history. If your offering checks one or both boxes, be sure to emphasize these features during Open Enrollment.

5. Undercommunicating Free Wellness & Mental Health Programs

For school districts and municipalities especially, wellness and mental health programs can help manage stress and burnout, especially in high-demand roles like teaching and public service. Your organization may offer wellness programs and mental health resources, but are your employees participating? 

To improve participation:

• Actively promote offerings. Use multiple digital channels, a variety of incentives, events, and resources to drive program awareness not just during Open Enrollment but all year long.
• Leverage technology. Utilize a platform that makes tracking employee engagement and utilization easy for your organization and makes participation fun and engaging for your employees.
• Reward for healthy behaviors and preventive care. Be sure to tie in healthy behaviors and preventative care to your wellness program rewards. Incentivize employees for getting their steps in and/or their annual (free!) preventative health checkups and screenings.
• Promote mental health resources. Don’t forget to let employees know about the free Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and counseling services available to them either through their medical provider or as a stand-alone benefit. 

Read more here about why wellness is an ESSENTIAL part of an organization’s employee benefits package.

6. Undersimplying HSA Education

HSAs offer significant tax advantages, yet many employees don’t use them simply because they’re unsure how they work.

Augment the process by:

• Communicating contribution limits and employer contributions. Share annual HSA IRS limits every enrollment cycle as well as employer contributions if any, and what the requirements are for that contribution. What do employees need to do to receive the contribution? When should they expect the contribution? Make it easy for employees to grasp its value
• Explaining triple-tax savings benefits. Let employees know that the HSA is the only individual account that is triple-tax advantaged and owned by the employee. Their money is not taxed on the way in or out as long as that money goes to an eligible medical expense for that employee or their dependent. Their money also grows tax-free – no tax is charged on the interest or growth it accrues.
• Providing eligible expense lists. Be sure to offer easy-to-read lists of what medical expenses are reimbursable. The list is long! Check Healthcare.gov for definitions and guidance.

7. Lacking Enrollment Support

Employees often struggle with benefits decisions and getting through the enrollment process within a limited Open Enrollment timeframe. HR teams are oftentimes small and overburdened, especially during Open Enrollment. 

Enhance enrollment support by:

• Leveraging provider resources. Lean on your benefits providers for additional enrollment support resources, whether that be educational videos, webinars, flyers, presentations, etc.
• Using decision-support tools. Offer employees access to online guides, chatbots, and comparison platforms that are designed to help employees make informed choices. Ask your provider if they offer these resources free of charge. Hint: Many of them do!
• Setting up group meetings and office hours. Schedule and host group meetings with employees to go over benefit options in detail, and have it recorded and posted online for later viewing. Dedicate a few hours of the day during this time to providing employees with one-on-one support if they need it.

8. Assuming Employee Enrollment Information is Accurate

Life events—like marriage, divorce, or childbirth—impact benefits eligibility. Outdated records can cause coverage errors or compliance issues. Another overlooked information error is assuming all employee selections have been processed correctly.

Prevent issues by:

• Sending regular reminders. Even if employees are waiving all benefit options, encourage them to go into their system to review and update their dependents, beneficiaries, and contact info.
• Automating qualifying life event notifications. Set up alerts that prompt employees to update their information when changes occur.
• Verifying contact and dependent details before enrollment. Be sure your system requires that employees verify their contact details and their dependent information before they complete their enrollment. Clean records prevent miscommunication and mistakes.
• Verifying enrollment selections with confirmation statements. Encourage employees to review their choices before deadlines. Provide employees with summaries of their selections to prevent misunderstandings.
• Auditing enrollment and dependent eligibility data. Catch discrepancies early by cross-checking records internally to ensure your system is capturing employee elections and dependent eligibility correctly.

Let us do the heavy lifting

At VSMG, we understand that Open Enrollment isn’t just about forms and deadlines—it’s about creating an easy, stress-free experience for everyone. We provide Arizona public sector employers with customized strategies that ensure your organization’s next Open Enrollment is a huge success. Looking to improve your Open Enrollment strategy? Contact us today 

About VSMG

Built by and for Arizona public sector employers, VSMG is a leading employee benefits consultant dedicated exclusively to serving Arizona school districts, municipalities, and other public entities for over 20 years. With offices in Phoenix and Tucson, we deliver expert advice, forward-thinking strategies, and cost-effective solutions that help our clients attract and retain top talent.