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What Does Open Enrollment Mean?

October 26, 2020, by New City Insurance

Building blocks of various insurance coverage“Open enrollment” is the phrase used to refer to the annual period during which your employees may sign up for a health insurance plan. During this time, they may switch to a different health plan or enroll in your company’s plan. This time frame generally applies to almost any type of insurance plan your organization offers (health, dental, vision, disability, life, etc.). Group plan open enrollment dates are different for each organization but renewals are almost always one year from the plan’s effective date. For example, if your effective date was November 1, 2019, your renewal date would be November 1, 2020.

Anyone who has a qualifying life event (e.g. losing health coverage, having a baby, or getting married) is eligible to purchase insurance outside of open enrollment.

How To Prepare For Open Enrollment

If your employees intend to obtain insurance during your open enrollment, it’s important for them (and you) to know in advance what the dates of this period are. However, there are also three specific actions to take in order to prepare for open enrollment. You must always review your group benefits plan, check a plan’s renewal period, and evaluate any existing company changes or needs.

Review Your Group Benefits Plan

Happy employee force celebratingBefore your workers begin to weigh all their options, you should consider assessing your group benefits plan’s offerings in order to determine whether these match your employees’ specific needs (i.e. cost and quality of plans). Your workers’ needs will likely depend on several factors, including their income level, health, and overall life situation (e.g. pregnancy or impending retirement). Therefore, it’s important to remain informed about your employees’ respective situations.

According to the Department of Labor, a group health plan is “an employee welfare benefit plan that provides medical care for participants or their dependents.” Employers may offer this type of plan either directly or via reimbursement.

Check Your Plan’s Renewal Period

If you already provide insurance, be sure to check your plan’s renewal period (this is often exactly one year after you purchased it). This is the optimal time to perform an audit of your existing plan. Throughout this period, be sure to consider the following things:

  • Have any of your insurance plans (medical, dental, or vision) recently changed in terms of cost or coverage?
  • Is your team satisfied with your current insurance plan? You can find out for certain by having all of your employees anonymously complete a survey. Surveying is a service offered by New City Insurance and a great way to help your workers feel as though they are contributing to finding new solutions for your company.

Evaluate Any Company Changes Or Needs

During the open enrollment period, it’s not only imperative to review your employees’ individual needs. You should also evaluate whether your business’s needs have changed due to any variations the company has recently undergone. For example, if you have lost a large number of employees over the past year and have struggled to hire new workers for some time, you could consider improving the quality of your benefits package. This can potentially help you remain competitive in your industry. A few simple adjustments can help your organization be viewed as a significantly more appealing place to work.

Work With Qualified Open Enrollment Professionals

Person holding phone with open enrollment accessSpeak to the qualified professionals at New City Insurance in San Diego for more information on the Open Enrollment Period and how to prepare for it. Since our founding in 2008, we have been dedicated to helping clients obtain customized and high-quality insurance solutions and to reshaping the insurance industry one step at a time.

At New City Insurance, our objective is to help our clients become more competitive in their respective industries by providing employee benefits packages designed to increase overall well-being, retention, and productivity. The benefits we offer include 401k & retirement plans, group health insurance, wellness plans, and executive benefits (e.g. deferred compensation plans, asset allocation, wealth planning). For group health insurance, we offer both high-premium and low-premium plans (with low and high deductibles, respectively). Call New City Insurance today at (888) 210-2759 or contact us online to learn more about our insurance offerings or to request a consultation.

Have Additional Questions?
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Google Rating
5.0
New City Insurance
New City Insurance
5.0
Carol Zhang
Carol Zhang
04:29 06 Mar 22
As a rapidly expanding national media organization, the employee benefits strategy and administration that New City has provided us during our growth has been invaluable. They have been proactive about informing us of the different benefit strategies available to us as we grow as well as managing the additional compliance laws and reporting requirements at each stage of our growth.
Claudia Villalobos
Claudia Villalobos
20:14 03 Mar 22
New City Insurance made navigating through all the health insurances super EASY. Their documents are highly informative, professional, and easy to work with. Thank you for making the process of choosing a health plan so simple. You guys are THE BEST!
Philippe Salas
Philippe Salas
17:02 22 Feb 22
I never expected to have a good time talking to an insurance salesman, but let me tell you Brendan was quite the treat. He was very helpful explaining the options and has a wonderful sense of humor. I hope to speak with him every time I call.
Jennifer Polito
Jennifer Polito
17:15 09 Feb 22
Super easy enrollment process. Fast and friendly customer service. If you are looking for an insurance company that is there for you every step of the way I highly recommend New City Insurance.
Rocky Salas
Rocky Salas
23:46 07 Jan 22
So friendly, I hope to speak to him again in all my future insurance needs.
Rocky Salas
Rocky Salas
23:38 07 Jan 22
So friendly and soft spoken. I hope to speak to him again in all my future insurance needs.
Jose Brena
Jose Brena
13:20 06 Jan 22
Eric Calciano has been extremely helpful in finding and selecting the right insurance coverage for our company. With many options out there Eric assisted us on getting a low cost provider saving more than 20% than from our competitors and providing excellent coverage for our employees.
Anastasia Beaverhousen
Anastasia Beaverhousen
17:05 28 Dec 21
Signing up for insurance was quick and easy. Felicity Sundsboe
SFCC
SFCC
22:08 29 Nov 21
Jeff Stoltey and his team provide excellent customer service. Jeff has always provided my company SFCC with straightforward options. I went to a larger insurance company only to RUN BACK to Jeff at New City Insurance. I recommend them to anyone needing insurance without hesitation.
Kevin Luby
Kevin Luby
19:13 22 Oct 21
Quick, easy & informative. We were able to secure quality insurance for our small business on a tight deadline. Thanks for the help New City.
Theresa Ruybol
Theresa Ruybol
19:30 01 Jul 21
Eric was so great with us. He was very patient and kind as we are a newer smaller organization who is growing rapidly. With that said, we had made our inquiry, he had great rapid response and mostly had to wait on me. Any request that we made and/or questions we had, he was great answering and helping us understand. Then when we were ready for all documents and to move forward, Brendan helped with getting that together and the two of them worked their magic on New City's end to notify me of what was needed, assist me in that process and confirming that all was complete and approved for the coverage. I just want to say thank you all again so much, as insurance has always been confusing to me, and you all made that process go a lot smoother.Thank you
Andrea Ordendorff
Andrea Ordendorff
21:06 07 May 21
I've been working with both Clayton and Brendan for well over a year. As the purchase of our dental practice was delayed well over 14 months they both patiently supported me and continued to make themselves available. When we were officially ready to sign up they made the whole process seamless and super easy. This team is highly knowledgeable, professional, supportive, and efficient! I can't thank them enough for everything they've done.
T W
T W
22:32 30 Aug 20
I love New City Insurance. I never had a good experience dealing with insurance brokers until I started working with Brendan. He’s awesome! He is patient with me and takes the time to answer all my questions. I’m very grateful for all his help and hard work!
Mary Jane Deyette
Mary Jane Deyette
00:57 11 May 20
Jeff Stoltey is so awesome...even thru my company had only two employees, he took the time each year to research and find the best plan for us. The only reason I am leaving New City Insurance is because we no longer have any employees. Thank you Jeff
Alma Ortiz
Alma Ortiz
22:25 23 Feb 20
Brendan was awesome! I couldn't figure out how to pick my plan and he returned my call on a weekend to help me. Outstansing service!
jessica kavanagh
jessica kavanagh
19:53 13 Feb 20
Brendan was so helpful I definitely recommend him if you’re in need of good help and getting it done promptly. Thankyou so much again.
Tricia DeYoung
Tricia DeYoung
19:49 13 Feb 20
I was very thankful I inquired about this info. with Brendan. He was very helpful so I understand the benefits available much better now. Thank you Brendan.
B Bayer
B Bayer
17:43 24 Sep 19
NCI handled almost everything from start to finish. Clayton and Brendan made the plans easy to understand and walked me through the application process. They got me my ID numbers before my cards arrived so that I could keep an appointment I had already scheduled. My last broker wouldn't have done that. 5 stars!
Jessica Lehr
Jessica Lehr
03:36 07 Jun 19
Our staff was interested in a health plan, but we didn't know how beneficial a solid employee benefits package would be for our business to expand. We'd lose prospective employees because they had more options for their medical insurance which was sometimes more valuable than more pay. The New City team was amazing and gave us as many affordable options as possible so that everyone had their needs met.
Mike McClay
Mike McClay
19:36 03 May 19
My employer uses New City as their insurance broker, and I'm always amazed when I call in for assistance by how knowledgeable and attentive their staff is with my requests. Their online benefits platform makes selecting insurance plans pretty darn easy. I would highly recommend their services.
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