Employees Lack Health Insurance Enrollment Knowledge, Support

While many employees consider themselves knowledgeable about health insurance enrollment, their responses to various questions about general health insurance questions would indicate otherwise, according to a survey from The Harris Poll commissioned by Justworks.

The Harris Poll surveyed more than 1,000 American employees from June 9 through June 13, 2022.

Over eight in ten employed Americans stated that they were knowledgeable about the health insurance enrollment process (82 percent). Four out of ten (39 percent) employees characterized themselves as “very knowledgeable” about the process.

Despite this self-reported consumer confidence, more than half of the employee participants (53 percent) also reported feeling like they could be maximizing their insurance options more effectively and that they did not know all of the benefits that their existing coverage provides (54 percent).

To test their actual level of health insurance enrollment knowledge, employees were asked about different types of consumer-driven health plans, basic health insurance terms, and transitioning between health plans.

Most employees thought that they could retain their flexible spending accounts if they left their jobs or were unsure. The correct answer is that when employees switch jobs they lose the funds and cannot roll them over into a new account under their new employers. Most employees also did not know that health savings accounts are paired with high deductible health plans (59 percent).

More than half of the employee participants were not sure how to define a deductible or incorrectly thought that the deductible is defined as how much their health plans pay for their healthcare services (54 percent).

Over six out of ten respondents either thought that they could make changes to their health plans or dependent coverage after enrollment or were unsure if this is the case (63 percent).

Younger employees between the ages of 18 and 44 were particularly ill-prepared for health insurance enrollment decisions. 

“Younger people tend to be less knowledgeable about health insurance, less comfortable asking questions of their HR reps, less clear on what their current health insurance offers them, and more likely to feel pressure to select the most expensive health plan to ensure they have the coverage that they need,” the survey explained.

While young employees may be more hesitant to reach out for help, accessing support during health insurance enrollment is a fairly ubiquitous issue for American employees. 

Most employees indicated that they wanted someone to point them toward the best health plan for their situations (72 percent), 44 percent were not comfortable discussing their coverage options with a human resources representative, and nearly half leaned on their friends and family members for enrollment support (47 percent).

Employees also shared insight into their emotional state during the health insurance enrollment period. While many felt protected (44 percent) and confident (39 percent), nearly three out of ten respondents said that the process made them feel overwhelmed (29 percent) and almost a quarter said that enrollment made them stressed (24 percent).

These responses have implications for employees and employers alike when it comes to job retention. Two-thirds of the respondents were looking for a job or were open to one. Three-quarters of employees said that they would be willing to take a pay cut at a new job for better health plan benefits.

These results were corroborated in a separate study from Quest Diagnostics in which employees ranked healthcare and health insurance as fourth in a list of ways that employers can attract and keep new employees.