Review our sample message ideas and resources to help you build out your yearly pre-tax participant communications.
Let’s face it. Open Enrollment is overwhelming for both employers and employees. It is no wonder 1 in 3 benefits professionals report that communications are often lost, overlooked or misunderstood. While we may never get rid of the overload at open enrollment, we can lighten the load with a year-long communication strategy that looks to provide more bite-sized, focused messages over time. Here are a few best practices to consider:
(Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, Time Bound)
Make sure your messages are noticed by leveraging the tools and channels employees are actively communicating in. Over 80% of employers reported using three or more methods of communication to reach employees. You will likely need more than one communication approach to reach employees.
| Channel | Most popular uses |
| Internal sites/tools (intranet, sharepoint, payroll, BenAdmin platform, etc.) |
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| Collaboration tools (Teams, Slack, Messenger apps) |
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| Email, text, mailed communication |
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| In-person / virtual meetings |
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| Newsletters / Benefits Communications |
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| Social Medial Groups |
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Visit our Webinars page and check out some of our past topics centered around communication. Two great places to start are two webinars recorded in 2022, ‘How to Keep Participants Informed All Year Long‘ and ‘Planning and Executing on Your Employee Communication Strategy‘.
The following sections are intended to outline possible message flows. Don’t be afraid to adapt to your employees’ needs. Be sure to check out our complete Resource Center and Blog for even more options, including many Spanish resources.
We have a new page dedicated to providing you with the resources and guidance needed for a successful Open Enrollment. There, we provide general tips and best practices, as well as include links with descriptions of the English and Spanish Open Enrollment resources that you can download. Check it out now by clicking the button below.
Toward the start of your plan year, communication should be centered around reminding your employees that they’re enrolled in pre-tax benefits with BRI and providing them with the tools and resources needed to start managing those benefits. The following resources can help you do that. The video linked below can be previewed to the right.
Not everyone will take action to register for a BRIWEB account during Open Enrollment or Plan Year start. Sometime during the year, be sure to remind them to do so. To help those who have put off registering, be sure to remind participants of their Company Code and Member ID Basis. At this time, you can also share information about BRI’s other account management tools: the BRIMOBILE App and BRIALERTS.
BRIWEB RESOURCES:
BRIMOBILE RESOURCES:
BRIALERTS & CHECKING BALANCE RESOURCES:
Once the plan year is a bit underway, it’s likely that most participants have started to use their Beniversal® or eTrac® Prepaid Mastercard®. But, it’s possible they haven’t taken advantage of some of the additional FREE features they get with it, including digital wallet compatibility, FREE Mastercard ID Theft Protection™, and HealthLock for Mastercard®. You can share information about these features using the resources linked below.
After sharing information about their card, it can be helpful to provide FSA/HRA participants information on what to do (1) when making an eligible purchase not using their card, and (2) if they receive a receipt follow-up request from BRI.
BRI’s Commuter Resource Center allows participants to find their city and view useful links and tips about using their Beniversal or eTRAC card for commuting in their area. If the city is not listed, a “General” option is available for links and tips that apply to all locations.
Mid-year changes that participants can make to their benefits vary based on plan type.
Changes to a Medical, Limited, or Dependent Care FSA election can only be made with a qualifying life event.
HSA contributions can be made at any time up until the tax filing deadline. Total contributions by all parties must be at or below the IRS limits. Participants can also invest their funds to grow their balance.
Updates to contributions can be made at any time, but may have limitations and deadlines set by your plan.
Provide participants with a reminder of how they can spend their funds and any restrictions or deadlines imposed by your plan.
Our Eligible Expenses page contains pre-tax eligible expenses for medical, dependent care, and commuter accounts. On that page is also a searchable list of eligible expenses and links to other tools and resources.
Remind plan participants that details about their specific plan(s) – requirements, limitations, and deadlines – are available within their plan documents. These are housed in the Documents section of BRIWEB.
Visit our Resource Center for our full collection of downloadable resources and videos in English and Spanish.
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Rochester NY 14623-4277
EMPLOYEES: (800) 473-9595
EMPLOYERS: (866) 996-5200
Benefit Resource and BRI are tradenames of Benefit Resource, LLC. Benefit Resource, LLC is an affiliate of Inspira Financial Health, Inc. and Inspira Financial Trust, LLC. Benefit Resource, LLC does not provide legal, tax or financial advice. Please contact a professional for advice on eligibility, tax treatment and other restrictions. Inspira and Inspira Financial are trademarks of Inspira Financial Trust, LLC.
The Beniversal and eTRAC Prepaid Mastercards are issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A., Member FDIC, pursuant to a license by Mastercard International Incorporated and may be used for eligible expenses everywhere Mastercard is accepted. Mastercard and the circles design are registered trademarks of Mastercard International Incorporated.
HSA Custodial Services are provided by a separate financial institution. See your HSA Account Agreement for specific account terms.
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