Employee Education & Enrollment Support Matter
A strong benefits strategy can look impressive on paper but may still fall short if employees do not understand how to utilize it.
VP of Employee Benefits · BHC Insurance · Independent Benefits Consultant
A strong benefits strategy can look impressive on paper but still fall short if employees don't understand how to use it. Employers can layer in better plan designs, cost containment programs, advocacy resources, pharmacy solutions, virtual care, direct primary care, voluntary benefits, and compliance tools — but if employees don't know those resources exist, when to use them, or why they matter, the strategy won't deliver its full value.
Education Is a Plan Performance Issue
Employee education isn't just an open enrollment task — it's an ongoing driver of plan performance. When employees understand their options, they're more likely to choose the right plan for their situation, use lower-cost care settings, engage with available resources, and avoid unnecessary out-of-pocket expenses. They also feel more confident about the benefits their employer provides, which has a real impact on retention and satisfaction.
Employers who invest in education see better utilization of the programs they've already paid for. A direct primary care arrangement, a high-performance network, or a pharmacy carve-out only delivers savings if employees actually use it. Education is what closes that gap.
Enrollment Support Is Just as Important
Benefits are genuinely confusing. Deductibles, copays, coinsurance, HSAs, FSAs, networks, prior authorizations, pharmacy tiers, and voluntary benefits — employees are expected to make meaningful financial decisions with limited context and a tight deadline.
Without clear guidance, employees default to last year's choices, guess at what's best, or disengage entirely. That leads to frustration, missed opportunities, and avoidable costs on both sides. Enrollment support isn't a nice-to-have — it's what makes the rest of the strategy work.
"Employers invest significantly in employee benefits. Education and enrollment support are what ensure that investment yields real value."
What Effective Communication Looks Like
Successful benefits programs require more than a renewal meeting and a benefits guide. They need intentional communication before, during, and after open enrollment — and they need to be built around how employees actually process information, not how HR finds it easiest to distribute.
That means simplifying the message, explaining the why behind plan design decisions, providing access to real support (not just a 1-800 number), and following up after enrollment to reinforce key resources. The goal is to turn benefits from a transaction into something employees genuinely understand and use.
The ROI on Education
Employers spend a significant portion of total compensation on health benefits. Education and enrollment support are what ensure that investment actually delivers value — to the employee and to the plan.
When employees use the right care settings, engage with cost containment programs, and make informed coverage decisions, claims costs go down, satisfaction goes up, and the employer's benefits strategy starts performing the way it was designed to. That's not a soft outcome — it shows up in the renewal.
If your employees aren't engaging with the programs you've built into your plan, the problem usually isn't the programs — it's the communication strategy around them. That's a fixable problem.
Sources & Further Reading
- EBRI: 2024 Workplace Wellness Survey — Benefits Understanding and Utilization — Employee data on health benefits literacy, enrollment decision-making, and the relationship between education and plan utilization.
- KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey 2024 — Open Enrollment and Communication — Data on employer communication practices during open enrollment and employee satisfaction with benefits information.
- SHRM: Benefits Communication Best Practices — SHRM guidance on effective benefits communication strategies, enrollment support, and year-round education programs.
- Health Affairs: Health Literacy and Health Plan Decision-Making — Research on the relationship between health literacy, plan selection quality, and downstream utilization patterns.
- Commonwealth Fund: Employee Benefits Understanding and Coverage Decisions — Data on how gaps in benefits understanding lead to suboptimal coverage choices and delayed care-seeking.
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About the Author
Corry Hull, REBC®, CSFS®
VP of Employee Benefits · BHC Insurance
Corry Hull, REBC® CSFS®, is VP of Employee Benefits at BHC Insurance and the founder of Employer Benefits IQ (www.employerbenefitsiq.com). He is a Certified Health Rosetta Advisor — one of fewer than 200 nationwide — and a multi-year presenter at United Benefit Advisors (UBA) national conferences. He specializes in self-funded health plan design, PBM contract strategy, stop-loss structuring, group medical captives, and ACA/ERISA compliance for mid-market employers. His work has been recognized by Health Rosetta (Rosie Award, 2026), UBA (Producer Peak Performer, 2025–2024), and BHC Insurance (Producer of the Year, 2021–2025). His employer-education content has been referenced in BenefitsPro and cited within the Health Rosetta advisor community. All consulting and brokerage compensation is fully disclosed.