Consumers hate shopping for health insurance—One of 3 things you need to know this week in employee benefits

Survey finds consumers rate health insurance shopping as highly unenjoyable

Open enrollment is well underway, both for employees selecting workplace benefit plans and shopping on their own through state and federal exchanges. Although December generally is a joyful shopping time for consumers, a new poll reveals that the spirit of the season definitely has not touched health insurance shoppers.

The survey, conducted by Bankrate, shows that a wide majority of consumers rate shopping for health insurance as unenjoyable as:

• Doing their taxes (75%).
• Sitting in the middle seat on an airplane (73%).
• Getting a tooth filled (64%).

The dislike for health insurance shopping stretches across income levels, age groups and appears unaffected by whether consumers were choosing from a few employer-sponsored plans or thousands of exchange-based options.

Such strong negativity could be due to a lack of understanding of their options, a lack of health literacy, or both. To help break through logjams in understanding and engagement, employers can lean on communication. Learn more through our Master Class session, “Beyond a two-week window: 10 ways to make annual enrollment a success in an era of health care reform.”

Join ShapeUp webinar to find out what’s in store for wellness in 2015

Hear what wellness experts think 2015 holds for employer programs in a free webinar hosted by ShapeUp on December 10 at 2 p.m. ET. This is the third consecutive year that ShapeUp will convene its panel of prognosticators to forecast the year ahead in wellness programs. The panel, which includes our CEO Jen Benz, will read the tea leaves on trends in:

• Employee engagement.
• Wearable wellness.
• Creating a culture of health. 
• Well-being technology.

Register today to join the session and get a head start on the year of wellness. 

This week’s hidden gem: 5 must-do tasks for 401(k) fiduciaries

As you’re making your lists and checking them twice, here’s one more: Fiduciary News recently published a checklist of five tasks for 401(k) fiduciaries to complete before year’s end, including updating the plan document and confirming distribution for all required notices and/or disclosures.