Make this your easiest — and most affordable — open enrollment yet

If employers want their workforce to take their health seriously, organizations need to strategize now for the best ways to communicate about benefits, while keeping costs low. 

It's no easy task, yet with open enrollment around the corner, taking the time to review what's worked in the past and abandon what hasn't is a worthwhile exercise. When it comes to making open enrollment decisions, employees spend less than an hour choosing their benefits for the year, despite being one of the biggest financial choices employees will make for themselves and their families. 

Jillian Mondaca, head of enrollment at Prudential Financial, says companies need to offer more guidance during open enrollment, rather than assuming employees know what's best for them. From making communications a year-round effort, to embracing tools that make the process easier, she shares her top tips for making open enrollment a worthwhile time investment for employees: 

Read more for Prudential's advice on open enrollment strategies: Prudential's 4 best practices for open enrollment

Taking the time to understand benefits can save employers and employees money, an especially important goal amid rising costs. While 68% of employees feel confident in how their healthcare plan works, according to benefits solutions platform Optavise, that still leaves a large group of people at risk of overspending on their coverage. 

"As employees find it difficult to navigate the healthcare system and fully grasp their benefits, closing the literacy gap requires transparent communication, education and efforts to simplify the understanding of healthcare benefits," says Kim Buckey, vice president of client services at Optavise. Buckey recommends one-on-one sessions with a benefit expert as one way to close any literacy gaps around healthcare coverage. 

Read for best practices to boosting healthcare literacy: How — and why — employers should make healthcare benefits interesting

Employers shouldn't feel like they have to navigate these complex healthcare situations on their own. Finding the right partners can benefit everyone, physically and financially. Eastman, a chemical and materials company, has partnered with The Clinic by Cleveland Clinic, on a program that offers virtual second opinion consultations. The Clinic connects patients with 3,500 specialists for second-opinion diagnosis, removing the need for travel or in-person visits and therefore increasing access for patients, regardless of location or income level. The program can save $36k per employee on unnecessary medical costs. Here's how one employee used it to get a proper diagnosis — and an affordable one, too: 

Read about the benefit of a second opinion: How a second opinion healthcare program is saving employers $36k per employee

After all the head scratching around healthcare benefits and plan complexities, it may be time to take a vacation. And picking the right location can actually help employees beat burnout. IBTM Global, an international business expo, ranked which destinations could offer workers the best reprieve from their daily grind, by looking at factors like noise pollution, quality of green spaces, average amount of sunshine in a day, air quality and average hours slept each night. 

Read more to see which countries are the best for a respite from stress: Need a vacation? Why Helsinki, Copenhagen and Vienna may cure burnout