(This post was adapted from the Benz Communications fall 2013 newsletter)
Every fall in our industry is intense, but this year tops the list. Keeping up with health care reform is a full-time job, quite literally. It is putting tremendous pressure on benefits and HR teams at every company. Even those who have a business-as-usual open enrollment this fall are feeling the stress of the additional complexity, media attention and, of course, focus from executives.
And this is just the beginning. We'll see tremendous changes in health care benefits over the next several years. As the federal and state exchanges turn health insurance into a commodity—available to everyone and heavily subsidized by the government—the benefits value proposition will shift. Now, while I don't think large employers will "get out of the health care business" at the first opportunity, I believe we will see entirely new structures and approaches very soon. We'll see a shift in focus from controlling costs to creating value. I'm hopeful that a forced focus on value and employee engagement will also produce better health outcomes than we're seeing from the sometimes draconian and often poorly implemented wellness programs that have become prevalent.
As if that's not enough to keep up with, we know retirement benefits are due for a major overhaul. The no-looking-back shift from defined benefit to defined contribution plans has left millions of Americans woefully unprepared for retirement. Thankfully, that lack of preparedness is getting noticed. In June, I was honored to testify before the DOL's ERISA Advisory Council. It was encouraging to see the Council asking hard questions around effective plan design and communication. Our recommendations will be passed onto the DOL's rule-makers to help employers strengthen programs. (You can read the full testimony here). And, while I know employers can help create tremendous progress, just like with health, to really solve our financial security problem, we need a culture shift.
Challenges, complexity, change. All reasons why the employee benefits industry is such an interesting and inspiring (and, yes, exhausting!) place to be right now. The structures that support the health and financial security of all Americans are being radically transformed. And while it is certainly cathartic to say the change is a reason to quit your job as a benefits manager, I hope most see the potential to help create something that is much more successful, sustainable and, dare I say, simple.
While we work to get there, we'll continue do our best to help you keep up. We're adding new resources all the time, including a weekly news roundup curated by our editorial director (and former EBN editor-in-chief) Kelley Butler. Subscribe to our blog to get it the moment it is published.
Jennifer Benz, SVP Communications Leader, has been on the leading edge of employee benefits for more than 20 years and is an influential voice in the employee benefits industry.
