Open enrollment season often brings a wave of anxiety to HR departments. Employees submit questions about deductibles and copays. Managers field complaints about coverage options. And despite your best efforts, confusion persists. The frustration is real—and it’s fixable.

After years of advising small businesses and mid-market employers, I’ve learned that benefits confusion rarely stems from plans being too complex. More often, it comes from communication that doesn’t meet employees where they are.

This guide shares four fundamental communication principles that eliminate benefits confusion and drive better enrollment decisions.

Why Clear Benefits Communication Matters

Before diving into the fundamentals, let’s establish why this matters beyond reducing your HR workload.

Employees who understand their benefits: - Make better choices aligned with their actual healthcare needs - Experience less post-enrollment regret and fewer plan changes mid-year - Report higher satisfaction with their benefits package - Stay with companies longer, reducing turnover costs

Research from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) shows that only 40% of employees fully understand their health plan options. This knowledge gap directly impacts your bottom line—through higher turnover, lower engagement, and reactive HR firefighting during the enrollment period.

The good news? Intentional communication fixes this.

Fundamental #1: Meet Employees at Their Literacy Level

The Problem: Most benefits communications are written by benefits experts for benefits experts.

We layer in technical jargon—“coinsurance,” “out-of-pocket maximum,” “qualified health plan”—assuming everyone speaks this language. But the truth is: many employees don’t.

The Solution: Simplify ruthlessly.

Start by writing benefits materials at a 6th-to-8th-grade reading level. This isn’t dumbing things down; it’s being respectful of people’s time and clarity of thought. When employees are rushed (which they are during enrollment), complex language creates barriers.

Practical steps: - Use plain language: “The amount you pay for healthcare” instead of “Out-of-pocket maximum” - Define technical terms when you must use them: “Deductible—the amount you pay before insurance kicks in” - Use short sentences and paragraphs (2-3 sentences per paragraph maximum) - Replace passive voice with active voice: “You’ll pay a $25 copay” instead of “A $25 copay is required” - Test your materials with someone outside benefits; if they’re confused, rewrite it

When I work with clients on enrollment materials, we apply the “explain to your teenager” test. If you can’t explain your health plan to a smart 15-year-old without them getting lost, the communication needs work.

Fundamental #2: Use Multiple Formats and Channels

The Problem: You send one email with a PDF attachment and assume everyone absorbed the information.

In reality, people learn differently. Some are visual learners. Some need to hear information spoken aloud. Some prefer interactive experiences. And many simply miss emails entirely.

The Solution: Communicate through parallel channels using different formats.

Essential communication channels: - Email: Use for announcements, deadlines, and detailed reference materials (but not as your only channel) - In-person sessions: Host group enrollment meetings where employees can ask questions in real-time - Recorded video: Create short, focused videos (2-3 minutes) explaining key concepts like “how to choose your deductible” - One-on-one meetings: Offer individual enrollment consultations for complex situations - Written guides: Provide a simple comparison chart and one-page summaries of each plan option - Interactive tools: Use plan comparison calculators or decision trees on your intranet

The channel matters less than consistency. When employees encounter the same core message across multiple touchpoints, understanding increases dramatically.

Here’s what I recommend: For every major enrollment period, plan for at least three different ways employees will receive and process plan information.

Fundamental #3: Focus on the Decisions That Matter Most

The Problem: Many employers try to explain every aspect of their benefits in comprehensive detail, overwhelming employees with information they don’t need to make decisions.

The Solution: Identify the 3-5 decisions employees actually need to make, then communicate relentlessly around those.

For most traditional benefit packages, the critical decisions are: 1. Which health plan tier (self-funded vs. PPO vs. HMO, high-deductible vs. low-deductible) 2. Whether to elect dependent coverage and which family members to cover 3. Which dental and vision plans (if options exist) 4. Flexible spending account elections (if offered) 5. Voluntary benefits like life insurance supplemental amounts

Stop trying to educate employees on every plan detail. Instead, create decision frameworks that help them choose.

Example: Instead of explaining deductibles, coinsurance, and copays separately, create a scenario-based comparison:

“Sarah visits her doctor 4 times per year for minor issues and takes one medication. Which plan saves her money? Compare Plan A vs. Plan B based on her situation.”

Scenario-based learning helps employees see themselves in the material and make decisions confidently.

Fundamental #4: Create Feedback Loops and Continuous Improvement

The Problem: Most organizations treat open enrollment as an annual event with no feedback mechanism. You send communications, conduct enrollment, and move on—without ever learning what confused people.

The Solution: Actively gather feedback and iterate.

Ways to collect feedback: - Post-enrollment surveys: Ask 3-5 focused questions about communication clarity and confidence in plan choice - Track HR questions: Document common enrollment questions; these reveal communication gaps - Monitor plan changes: High rates of mid-year plan changes suggest employees made choices they didn’t fully understand - Conduct focus groups: Talk with a small group of employees about what confused them - Review enrollment timing: If most enrollments happen on the deadline, employees may be rushing due to unclear information

After each enrollment period, spend 30 minutes reviewing this feedback. What patterns emerge? What materials did people struggle with? What channels worked best?

Use these insights to refine next year’s communication plan. Continuous improvement doesn’t require a complete overhaul—small, targeted changes often yield the biggest improvements.

Putting It All Together: Your Action Plan

Before next open enrollment, commit to these four fundamentals:

Audit your current materials against the “6th-grade reading level” standard. Rewrite anything that’s unclear.
Map your communication calendar across multiple channels and formats. When will employees hear about enrollment? Through which channels?
Simplify your message to focus on the 3-5 critical decisions employees face.
Plan your feedback mechanism. How will you learn what worked and what didn’t?

Benefits communication doesn’t require perfection—it requires clarity, repetition, and respect for your employees’ time and intelligence.

Start with these fundamentals, and you’ll find that benefits confusion decreases, enrollment quality improves, and your HR team spends less time fielding preventable questions.

Nexus Benefit Solutions is an independent employee benefits advisory firm based in West Michigan. Questions? Reach out at jason@nexusbenefitsolutions.com or call 616-425-9740.