The problem I see with enrollment meetings is that they focus on the nuts and bolts of the health plan. They discuss that the employee deductible is this amount, co-pay is that amount, and co-insurance is this amount. Really, that discussion is not very engaging. A lot of what we are trying to do now is engage employees. Engaging employees will help us drive better outcomes. In our enrollment meetings today, we want to spend time talking about lifestyle and behavior issues with which people might be able to identify. We want to talk about the employee benefits and the cost overall to the group. The cost all trickles down to the employee at some level anyway with regard to what they have to contribute to the cost of plans and their share in the cost, so we are trying to engage people in understanding the things that they can do from lifestyle and behavior standpoints that are going to help the overall group from a cost standpoint and enhance everybody’s satisfaction with their health plan at the end of the day.
Having motivational speakers present for our groups about lifestyle behavior issues in such a way that inspires and motivates people throughout the year can really work well to encourage employees to participate, play and be part of the solution. Not everybody wants to hear preaching and that is really not the goal of these presentations, but I have seen a number of speakers who truly have a gift in discussing specific specialties like exercise, nutrition and other things, and who are really well-versed in inspiring people to do their part to be part of the solution and not continually drag down the group as part of the problem.
