2019 Open Enrollment Exit Poll Infographic

Text-only version:

In 2019, 46% of consumers left open enrollment unsatisfied.

30% of employers did not help their employees understand or make their benefit decisions.

This left 56% unable to understand their options, estimate out-of-pocket costs, or determine the best option for their families.

Course correction: Lean on the experts

Without the right baseline of health and financial literacy, it can be difficult for employees to evaluate and compare options.

With benefit teams often resource-constrained, employers should work with their broker and health benefit partners to create strategic plan designs and deliver resources and decision support tools that guide employees to navigate their high-impact healthcare decisions well ahead of and throughout open enrollment.

 

70% of consumers didn’t know what to choose so they simply “checked-the-box”, passively re-electing the health plan they had the previous year and were most familiar with.

Course correction: Activate employees

Employees should have to actively compare and evaluate plan options during open enrollment.

When supported with robust education and decision support resources, employees will have a much greater chance to understand the value of their options.

 

29% of consumers didn’t know what health plan they had just enrolled in.

22% weren’t confident in the decisions they had made.

Course correction: Start early

Employees are inundated with benefit decisions during open enrollment.

Educate them early [well in advance of open enrollment and ideally year-round] on foundational healthcare concepts, so they come to open enrollment aware, educated, and confident in their decisions.

 

50% of consumers who enrolled in an HSA-qualified health plan didn’t elect to open a complementary and tax-advantaged health savings account (HSA).

Course correction: Train the trainers

Position the HSA-qualified health plan and HSA as a single value proposition that helps employees get the best value for every dollar they spend on qualified out-of-pocket costs. It should be clear that it is never a good idea to elect an HSA-qualified health plan without opening and contributing premium savings to an HSA.

 

The facts

Over 70% of consumers would benefit from an HSA-qualified health plan. But, they only work when they have the right plan design, funding strategy, education, and communication support.

Consumer directed healthcare (CDH):

• Saves employers and employees a lot of money
• Improves health outcomes
• Reins in the spiraling costs of healthcare

We can empower consumers and increase satisfaction this open enrollment, but we have to be thoughtful in our approach.

Look to the experts

In an ongoing series of Alegeus infographics, we will explore insights into consumer-driven healthcare with employer plan design strategies coming soon.

Research completed by Alegeus. Online survey and data collected from 1,000 U.S. consumers.