Constructing Clear, Action-Oriented Communications During Open Enrollment

Open enrollment season is quickly approaching, with plan sponsors, recordkeepers and participants alike preparing for what Steve Mann calls a “marquee” event of every year.

With many health insurance open enrollment windows set to begin on November 1, benefits-eligible employees will have about two weeks to make selections about their 2027 benefits. Mann, a senior vice president in Fidelity Investments’ workplace consulting group, says addressing healthcare inflation is inevitable this season—but doing so transparently is the key to doing it well.

Address the Elephant in the Room

Employers predicted last year that median healthcare costs for 2026 would be 9% greater than 2025 levels, according to the Business Group on Health’s 2026 Employer Health Care Strategy Survey. Employers renewing fully insured health plans for 2026 actually faced average premium increases of 18% to 25%, with some groups seeing hikes exceeding 60%, according to the USI 2026 Employee Benefits Market Outlook. Mann says plan sponsors must determine how the extra costs will be distributed—whether the employer absorbs it up or passes it on to the employee.

Because sponsors may have to make plan design changes and increase employee deductibles, they must address the financial burden the changes will put on employees, Mann says.

“Emphasize what’s changing, how [participants] are impacted, and what they’ll pay,” suggests Michelle Keefe, a vice president in Fidelity’s workplace consulting group. “Think through what an individual [will] worry about when it comes to continuity of care and make that the center of communication.”

Keefe adds that when plan sponsors implement new plan designs or make pricing changes, it is important they “maintain trust through transparency,” conveying to employees the business justification for the changes. She also recommends giving employees adequate time to absorb and understand changes, without overwhelming them with extensive messaging in a short time frame.

Get It Right

Simultaneously, recordkeepers must be “plugged into accuracy” this fall, Mann says.

Thomas McCarthy, Fidelity’s head of health and welfare and digital health, says one of Fidelity’s biggest priorities this fall is to “continue to get the basics right.”

“This is the biggest lift for a benefits team each year,” McCarthy wrote in a response to emailed questions. “Our top priority is helping employees with things like education, decision support and action—and employers with things like data, processing and analytics—to get through open enrollment with as little friction as possible.”

McCarthy wrote that in fall 2026 and beyond, there should be a strong focus on continuing to drive higher levels of personalization in all benefitsthrough the open enrollment process.

“Beyond cost and claims, a personalized experience will consider things like emotions, behavior, payment preference, risk tolerance and broader financial goals,” McCarthy wrote.

Keep It Simple

Harry Dalessio, Vanguard’s head of strategy and product enablement, says the “age-old” way for plan sponsors and recordkeepers to drive success in open enrollment is to keep communications clear, relevant and action-oriented.

“If at the end of [a] communication, [participants] have to take five, six or seven steps, [they] begin to lose interest,” Dalessio says. He suggests plan sponsors brainstorm, “How do you make [participants] in one or two clicks, [say,] ‘I’ve read, I’m engaged, I’m interested, and I want to take action right now?”

Amanda Ross, a managing director and the head of participant experience at Bank of America, recommends plan sponsors deploy timely communications written in easily digestible language for the best engagement results. She says it is important that messages are clearly connected to decisions participants care about, in order to be relevant and meaningful, rather than generic.

Ross says having simple calls to action is important but giving employees the ability to take the next step—whether it be a digital link or a consultation with an adviser—is crucial. Resonating with a wide spectrum of individuals requires “meet[ing] the participant where they are and deliver[ing] information in the way they want to consume it,” she says.