From year to year, employee benefits often go through a variety of changes that workers need to know about in order to get the most out of their coverage options. However, according to a new survey, many are unclear about these adjustments when they go into effect and remain confused on the matter long after they've been implemented.
The poll, which was performed by survey firm Research Now, found that more than 70 percent of employees confess to not being able to understand the changes made to their policies each year. Despite this fact, though, 90 percent say that they opt with the same policy structure when it comes time to renew their plans.
Audrey Boone Tillman, executive vice-president of the insurance firm that financed the study, indicated that this is an important year for workers to be well-informed about their coverage policies with the open enrollment period around the corner.
"Workers will contend with three major factors this enrollment period, including employers' increasing adoption of high-deductible health plans, scaled down benefit plans, and increasing premiums," said Tillman. "All of these changes require workers to pay even closer attention and have a full understanding of the benefit plans being offered to them."
She added that a failure to do so puts policyholders at risk for paying higher deductibles and gaps in coverage that may force people to pay for services and treatments out-of-pocket unnecessarily.
Lack of clarity has been one of the main gripes of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Multiple polls indicate that not only are employers unclear about what qualifies as "essential employee benefits" but workers themselves don't understand what they're supposed to do when the healthcare law kicks in next year.
