Stop Using These 5 Words with Employee Benefits Education
If you’re reading this blog, it’s likely you’re a pro when it comes to employee benefits. Perhaps it comes easy to you, you understand all the ins-and-outs and you could hold a benefits meeting in your sleep.
But employees? They don’t know half of what you know…not even close! In fact, 72% of employees don’t know what coinsurance is. That’s a problem. Failure to understand how our healthcare benefits work leads to frustration and higher utilization costs. We want to empower you to be a part of the solution.
Great education starts with knowing where you need to start. Through research we have learned that if you are not explaining benefits to employees at a sixth-grade level, then you are likely missing out on a huge opportunity to make your employees better healthcare consumers. And we don’t mean to use “sixth-grade level” as degrading. Healthcare and benefits are hard to understand. Carriers use a significant amount of jargon that the everyday person does not understand. It’s up to you to make health insurance easy to understand and approachable by your employees.
In this blog, we’re encouraging you to stop using these five common words used in employee benefits education:
STD
Most employees will think “STD” insurance is meant to cover, well, STDs. And not the kind we get from cutting a tree down. Employees aren’t familiar with this term simply due to the fact that they don’t have to (luckily) deal with this concept on a regular basis. About 5% of Americans experience a short-term disability on an annual basis. And 22% of that are pregnancies. Which brings us to another really confusing concept, the fact that a pregnancy is even considered a disability.
So, what should we do instead? Use the real words - the entire phrase. Yes, it’s lengthy and yes it takes up more room on a sheet of paper, but employees will actually understand the concept making your job easier!
Say this instead: Short-Term Disability.
Used in a sentence: Short-Term Disability insurance is meant to protect any loss of income you have due to a disability that impacts you for a short period of time. Examples of “short-term” disabilities include birth of a child, fracture from a car accident, hernia or depression.
Elimination Period
While this seems like a pretty easy concept to comprehend, the most alarming part for employees is that there is an actual period that exists where they have to wait for benefits. Think about it from their perspective - they pay for insurance, and then if they need to use it, they have to wait. It’s strange. Benefits communication needs to be transparent and focused on the details that impact employees’ lives and paychecks. When constructing your communications, try to think of what would be important for your employees to know instead of the "status quo” communications you may generally see.
Say this instead: Waiting period (+ context)
Used in a sentence: It’s important to note that with your disability insurance there is a period of time you have to wait before you start receiving money from the insurance carrier. Your waiting period is kind of like your medical deductible. But instead of your medical insurance company paying on a claim in exchange for money, your disability insurance company will start paying you in exchange for time. During this waiting period you’ll be asked to submit paperwork to the insurance carrier about your disability.
New-Hire
While the term “new-hire” is used regularly in the HR and benefits industry, new employees do not think of themselves as “new-hires”. They don’t introduce themselves to their new colleagues by saying, “Hi, I’m Joe and I’m a new-hire.” We repeatedly see benefits communications phrased as, “If you’re a new-hire, you’ll be able to access X, Y or Z.” But what defines a “new-hire”? And why are new-hires getting the same communications as existing employees? Some quick tips:
Tip 1: Make your communications personalized. Use phrasing such as, “Since you’re a new employee, you’ll have the opportunity to X, Y or Z”.
Tip 2: Create different communications for your new-hires. This will make your materials more succinct and easier to understand. (You won’t have to use the word, “if”!)
Tip 3: Define what “new” actually means. Is it within one year of employment? One month? The first time enrolling in benefits? “New” can mean many different things to your employees.Say this instead: New employee / New member of our team
Used in a sentence: Since you’re a new member of our team and this is the first opportunity you have to enroll in our benefits program, you get a significant advantage if you choose to purchase life insurance!
Guarantee Issue
This by far is one of the most mis-understood insurance concepts we’ve seen when interviewing employees. There’s a lot to unpack here, and this is why it’s so important to make communications separate for new-hires and existing employees (see note 3 above). Going into the details of life insurance can be a handbook in itself. We want to stress the importance of focusing on tiny bits of information. How do you do that? Well, think about what is most important for this employee to know right now. Generally speaking, when you’re talking about guarantee issue, it’s only offered for a limited time. Emphasizing this point and defining exactly what this means for your employees is key.
Say this instead: Guaranteed amount of life insurance
Used in a sentence: You have this short window of opportunity to purchase life insurance up to a specific amount without having to fill out a medical questionnaire. The insurance company will provide you a guaranteed amount of life insurance, also known as guarantee issue, since you’re a new employee and it’s your first opportunity to enroll in this benefit. If you choose to not purchase life insurance at this time and want to wait until the next Open Enrollment period, you’re welcome to do so! However, you will need to fill out a medical questionnaire and you will no longer have access to the guaranteed amount of life insurance.
Psst! Did you notice how we didn’t use EOI? “Evidence of Insurability” is also jargon and misunderstood. We like to use “medical questionnaire”.
Provider
You may be thinking, whaaaat? Everyone understands “provider”. Nope! They don’t. They truly don’t.
If you’re ever stumped at words to use, just think about how normal conversations happen. For instance, most people say, “I’m going to see my doctor next week.” or, “I have to schedule a doctor’s appointment.” We can guarantee you that your employees and their families are not hanging around the dinner table chatting and murmuring the following, “Little Daisy, Mommy has an appointment with her provider this week so I’ll need you to stay home with Daddy.”
Why is this important? For starters, clarity. The benefits and insurance industry throw so many terms at employees…provider, carrier, PCP, etc. It’s hard enough to understand benefits, so why make it even more complicated? Using the term “doctor” is universal. Second, “provider” just seems cold to put it frankly. Healthcare is very personal. It’s not the DMV we’re talking about here. It’s all about perspective, and when your communications give a little more heart, a little more softness and a touch of sincerity - they will come across more relatable and easier to understand.
Say this instead: Doctor
Used in a sentence: Don’t forget to schedule your annual checkup with your doctor this year. Your health and happiness are important to us!
Psst! Did you notice we took out the term “preventive exam”? Again, think about how everyday people who are not in this industry talk amongst themselves about their healthcare, and use that to humanize your employee benefits education!
