“Hey, my wife and I are going to have another baby, but we aren’t telling anyone yet. Which deductible should I pick for next year?” This is an IM I got from one of our developers last year about this time. I recommended that my coworker consult with our very own decision support tool, Plan Selector in Plan Advisor. He did this in a few minutes from his home computer with his wife, and was able to compare likely out of pocket costs for each of the three plans Zywave offered. They were then able to confidently elect the plan that was best suited for their growing family. I also took great care to not congratulate his wife until the news became Facebook official. There was a close call or two!

As an insurance consultant, you probably get put into your fair share of sticky situations around this topic, and you hear from the HR folks at your clients that they hear more personal health information during one open enrollment period than they would have liked to in a lifetime. What are you doing to support employees in selecting the best plan for them today? I hear from most brokers that they run through some scenarios in a PowerPoint at open enrollment: 27 year old single man? Go for the HDHP. 50+ on some maintenance medications? The Premier Plan may be for you. Family with typical health care needs? The core plan seems just right. Sound familiar? There is a better way! Decision support is emerging as a hot topic. Here are some tips in selecting a tool to wow your prospects and support your clients through open enrollment:

• Can family members access the tool if the employee is not the primary decision maker?
• Does the solution use normative data based on 30 million lives and $100 billion in paid claims to project utilization and costs for employees and their families based on demographics and location?
• Is the solution branded to you?
• Are the plan designs flexible?
• Is it available wherever internet access is available?
• Does the solution fit multi-carrier plan offerings?

I’m interested to hear how you are handling open enrollment this year. Any tricks or tips that you would like to share? Any new pain points you hope to find solutions for?

January 1 is just around the corner…you can do it!