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Annual Enrollment: Uncertain Times,
Difficult Decisions
by Sam
Gruenbaum, President, BTHR Solutions
Once
again, the Annual Enrollment cycle for benefit choices is the topic at
many companies throughout the county. Employees are faced with tough
healthcare benefit choices as this year is offering a sea of plan design
changes and cost shifting. With costs continuing to increase rapidly, a
sluggish, faltering economic recovery and great uncertainty about the
impact of the Affordable Care Act, the future of healthcare has never
been more uncertain.
Plans are changing rapidly and shifting the costs of health plans from
employers to employees. Health Savings Accounts (HSA) are now offered by
35% of employers, 8% offer consumer directed health plans, putting more
decision-making power in the hands of plan participants and adding to
the complexity and difficulty of communicating plan information to
anxious employees already stressed by the difficult economy.
Even with all the uncertainty, options will still be communicated,
elections will still be made and confirmed and benefit professionals
will breathe a sigh of relief when it is all over at year-end. Employees
will hope they made the right decisions and then move on to the many
other complications that life offers on a regular basis.
BTHR Solutions has been in the business for almost 35 years, and we have
seen many Annual Enrollments. We know the challenges that the season
brings, and we're ready to help. We can support all aspects of Annual
Enrollment, with experienced contract help to staff your call center,
support employee communications staff, conduct information sessions for
plan participants, and do all the benefit administration tasks that are
part of Annual Enrollment.
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