Written by Jennifer Hui and Melissa Loudon.
Rethinking benefits education starts with recognizing what traditional education does well and where it falls short. Most employers invest heavily in open enrollment meetings, benefits guides, emails, and reminders to help employees choose coverage. While these efforts support enrollment decisions, they often do not prepare employees for the real-world situations that arise months later.
The challenge is not that employees fail to pay attention. Many review materials carefully and ask thoughtful questions. Instead, they struggle to apply general information to specific circumstances, such as understanding an unexpected medical bill, navigating a prior authorization issue, or responding to a change in provider networks. Benefits education explains concepts, but it cannot anticipate every scenario employees may face.
As coverage evolves and employees’ personal situations change, the information they learned during enrollment may become less relevant or harder to recall. Employers often respond by increasing communications, but more content alone does not always solve the problem. Employees frequently need answers tailored to a specific provider, procedure, prescription, or claim.
When rethinking benefits education employers should shift their focus beyond enrollment success and toward benefits utilization. They should continue providing clear, accessible education while also offering personalized guidance and advocacy when questions arise. Education creates the foundation, but employees often need real-time support to understand and use their benefits confidently when it matters most.
See the full article on EBN for more information.
