8 Valuable Ways to Educate Your Employees about Benefits

The information contained in this article is not intended as legal advice and may no longer be accurate due to changes in the law. Consult NHMA's legal services or your municipal attorney.

Are your employees getting the most from their coverage plan? Providing a comprehensive benefits package is one of the most important things you can do as an employer, but you want to be sure to educate your employees so they understand their benefits and the resources available to help them stay healthy. To take full advantage of their benefits, employees need to understand the coverage, programs and services available
to them and how to access them. Employees who are well-educated about their benefits tend to make informed healthcare decisions, utilize preventive services, join wellness initiatives and take steps to prevent serious, costly health issues in the future.

8 Effective Ways to Keep Your Employees in the Know

As you communicate to your employees, avoid using a single, one-size-fits-all approach, but identify a variety of methods that work for you as the employer and for your employees and retirees. Below are some tips you can implement to educate employees about their benefits, wellness programs and other resources available. As a reminder for HealthTrust Member Groups, you can also find posters, flyers, forward-ready emails and other materials in the Secure Member Portal (SMP) to share with and educate your employees.

1. Post notices and flyers about their benefits and wellness programs available in community areas such as breakrooms, and remind them to check out online resources. For HealthTrust Member Groups, encourage
your covered employees and retirees to create an account on HealthTrust’s Secure Enrollee Portal (SEP) so they can access coverage documents, digital ID cards, program information, single sign-on buttons to vendor
partner sites including Anthem, CVS Caremark®, Delta Dental, Included Health, SmartShopper, and many other resources.

2. Use your intranet and internal newsletters, if available, to share benefit and wellness program information and reminders.

3. Send emails (work or personal) beginning at least one month before and throughout the open enrollment period. You could also send monthly emails with benefit and program reminders or news.

4. Provide electronic and printed material with detailed information about their benefits, wellness programs, resources available and important deadlines. Consider providing informational payroll stuffers with your employee’s paychecks or attaching flyers to electronic payroll notices.

5. Hold in-person and/or virtual Benefit Education sessions not only at open enrollment but throughout the year. In addition to offering sessions at different times that work for your employees, offer an evening session and invite spouses to attend, too.

6. Host health fairs and invite all of your vendors. Leverage “Health Awareness” observances (such as Breast Cancer Awareness month in October or Men’s Health Awareness month in June) to highlight a specific topic
and let employees know that their benefits include resources to help and support them.

7. Designate a group benefits champion to educate employees on plans, provide resources and answer questions. Consider having someone on your staff be a wellness coordinator and ask them to help you find ways to engage your employees and retirees in their benefits and wellness programs. Among HealthTrust Member Groups, those with a Wellness Coordinator on staff have consistently higher participation rates in wellness programs than Groups that don’t have a wellness coordinator on staff.

8. Survey your employees and retirees to find out what they are most interested in learning about.

Don’t Forget to Have Fun!

Although you may use one or more of the tips above, it is vital to keep the information flowing throughout the year. A fun way to do this is to pose a monthly trivia question to your staff related to the benefits and wellness programs you offer and award a prize to the person who submits the correct answer. Highlighting different features of your benefits or wellness programs each month will keep your employees engaged and informed!

The HealthTrust Wellness Team table at the Town of Londonderry’s “Beach Day” themed Health Fair

Remember, offering comprehensive benefits and wellness programs, and educating your staff so they can fully use them are important steps to creating a healthy, productive workplace. But it’s equally important to let your employees know their health and wellness is as important to you as it is to them!

Andrew Struth is a Benefits Advisor at HealthTrust.

Reminder for HealthTrust Member Groups!

HealthTrust offers a variety of benefit resources to help you educate your covered employees and retirees, including:

• Benefit Education Presentations – These presentations are customized for each Member Group. They include an overview of the tools, programs and services available to your employees and retirees.
• Benefit Comparisons Charts – These charts contain detailed plan information with links to additional plan resources.
• Electronic Benefit Packets - For open enrollment (employees and retirees) or new hires, these fully customized electronic benefit packets contain links to all of the documents and fillable forms employees need to learn about and enroll in their benefits.

In addition, HealthTrust Benefits and Wellness Advisors are available to provide benefit education sessions virtually or in person, as well as to participate in Member-sponsored health fairs. These events allow your employees and retirees to ask questions and stay informed about their benefits and wellness programs throughout the year. We are here for you!