5 Things Employers Should Review to Prepare For Renewal Season
For many employers, employee benefits receive the most attention during renewal and open enrollment. However, waiting until renewal season to review your health insurance plan can lead to rushed decisions, unexpected costs, and missed opportunities to improve your benefits package.
A midyear benefits checkup gives employers an opportunity to evaluate how their current plans are working, identify potential concerns, and begin preparing for the next renewal well in advance. Taking time to review your benefits now can make the renewal process more organized and help your company make informed decisions when new rates and plan options become available.
Here are seven important areas employers should review before renewal season.
1. Review Employee Enrollment and Participation
Start by reviewing which employees are currently enrolled in each benefit and whether your enrollment information is accurate.
Have all eligible employees been offered coverage? Are recently hired employees enrolled correctly? Have employees who are no longer with the company been removed from the plans? Have there been any changes involving dependents or employee coverage?
Maintaining accurate enrollment information can help prevent billing issues and ensure employees and their dependents have the coverage they expect.
Employers should also review overall participation in medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and supplemental benefits. Understanding which benefits employees value and use can help guide future decisions.
2. Evaluate Employee Feedback
Employees experience the health plan firsthand, making their feedback an important part of the benefits review process.
Consider whether employees have expressed concerns about:
Difficulty finding in-network doctors or hospitals
High deductibles, copays, or out-of-pocket expenses
Prescription medications that are not covered or are more expensive than expected
Limited access to specialists
Confusion about how their benefits work
Challenges with claims, billing, referrals, or prior authorizations
Employee feedback does not necessarily mean a plan needs to be changed. In some cases, employees may simply need additional education or assistance understanding their coverage. However, recurring concerns may identify areas worth reviewing during renewal.
3. Review Payroll Deductions and Employer Contributions
Midyear is a good time to confirm that employee payroll deductions match current benefit elections and that employer contributions are being applied correctly.
Employers should review:
Employee medical, dental, vision, and other benefit deductions
Employer contribution amounts
Coverage tiers, such as employee-only, employee-and-spouse, employee-and-children, and family coverage
Recent enrollment changes
New-hire deductions
Employee termination dates
Reviewing payroll information before renewal can help identify and correct discrepancies before new rates take effect.
Employers may also want to begin evaluating their benefits budget for the upcoming plan year. Understanding how much the company currently contributes can help establish realistic goals before renewal options are presented.
4. Consider Changes in Your Workforce
A company’s workforce can change significantly over the course of a year. New employees may have different healthcare needs, while changes in company size can affect available plan options and participation requirements.
Consider whether your company has experienced:
Significant hiring or employee turnover
Changes in the average age of the workforce
Employees moving into new geographic areas
An increase or decrease in the number of employees enrolling in coverage
Changes in employee preferences or benefit priorities
Business growth that may affect eligibility for additional plan options
Understanding how your workforce has changed can help determine whether your current benefits package continues to meet the needs of both the company and its employees.
5. Begin Preparing for Renewal Early
Employers do not need to wait until renewal rates are released to begin planning.
An early review provides time to identify company priorities, gather employee feedback, evaluate the benefits budget, and discuss potential alternatives. When renewal information becomes available, the employer will already have a clearer understanding of what is working well and what may need improvement.
Beginning early also provides more time to:
Review renewal rate changes
Compare alternative insurance carriers
Evaluate different plan designs
Review provider networks
Compare prescription benefits
Consider employer contribution strategies
Prepare employee benefit summaries
Schedule employee education meetings
Organize a smooth open enrollment process
The goal is not necessarily to change insurance carriers every year. In many cases, renewing the current plan may remain the best option. The purpose of reviewing the market is to ensure the company makes an informed decision rather than automatically accepting a renewal without evaluating available alternatives.
How Health-Wise Partners Can Help
At Health-Wise Partners, we help employers manage employee benefits throughout the entire year—not only during renewal and open enrollment.
Our team assists with employee enrollment, new hires, employee terminations, eligibility questions, provider and prescription research, benefit education, insurance ID cards, claims and billing concerns, and ongoing benefits administration.
As renewal approaches, we review current benefits and costs, evaluate renewal changes, research available options, compare insurance carriers and plan designs, and help employers understand how each option may affect both the company and its employees.
Once a plan is selected, we prepare easy-to-understand benefit summaries, conduct employee education meetings, assist with open enrollment, and remain available to answer questions throughout the year.
Make Renewal Season Easier by Starting Early
A midyear benefits checkup can help employers identify concerns, understand employee needs, prepare for future costs, and approach renewal season with greater confidence.
Employee benefits are an important investment in your workforce. Taking time to review your plans before renewal can lead to better-informed decisions and a smoother experience for employers and employees.
At Health-Wise Partners, our goal is to help businesses find quality coverage at the most cost-effective rates while providing ongoing education, administration, and support.
Do not wait until renewal season to begin reviewing your employee benefits. Contact Health-Wise Partners today to schedule a midyear benefits checkup and start preparing for a successful renewal.