When it comes to employee benefits, an ounce of prevention is often worth a pound of cure. This holds true in the case of qualifying events. Though your plan participants should have received their HIPAA Special Enrollment Notice, it’s not uncommon that these participants have an incomplete or inaccurate understanding of the rules around mid-year changes, which can lead to friction between employees and HR teams when these rules don’t work as the employees expect.
Informing employees about qualifying events and mid-year changes before the situation comes up can save a lot of time and frustration later on. There are three key things to remember when educating your employees:
1. Use Examples, Not Specifics
When discussing qualifying life events, it’s always a great idea to provide a list, so employees can refer back to it as needed. But effective education doesn’t stop there. Examples, especially ones rooted in common real-life situations, are an excellent way to illustrate what you’re trying to say. Examples of situations that are commonly mistaken for qualifying events are equally helpful. As you build your examples, borrow from the situations you’ve seen in the organization, but take care not to single out any one situation or individual.
Real life is complicated; there’s simply no way you can cover every single scenario. Remember that we’re trying to explain a concept, not get bogged down in endless what-ifs. Give employees a way to come to you later with their specific questions so that you can give them more tailored advice.
2. Stick to the Basics, But Don’t Oversimplify
When you know a lot about a topic, it’s often tempting to offer every piece of information that feels relevant. Unfortunately, this can overwhelm employees and prevent them from grasping the fundamental concept, especially considering that they will often need to explain this concept to a spouse or partner. On the other side of the coin, oversimplifying can lead to an incomplete understanding that does both you and your employees a disservice.
To find this middle ground, spend some time thinking about the key points of qualifying events and mid-year elections—especially the pieces that employees at your organization tend to struggle with. Do employees try to change their elections without a qualifying life event? Have employees missed a 30-day window to report a change?
3. Emphasize timelines
Often, a lot of time is spent explaining what does or does not count as a qualifying life event. And while that is critical for employees to understand, acting in a timely manner is equally crucial to effective mid-year changes.
Advise employees to be as proactive as possible. When they know about a qualifying life event in advance, such as a wedding or turning 26, they should take advantage of that extra time to make sure that everything is in place. A qualifying life event usually represents a busy time for the one experiencing it, and that 30-day window can close faster than they may realize.
