Navera Offers Guidance to Boost Engagement in Voluntary Benefits

Sept. 11, 2014 - PRLog -- Increasingly, employers are offering a broader array of voluntary benefits, both to offset coverage gaps that often accompany enrollment in high-deductible plans, and to increase employee job satisfaction and retention. “Employers looking to open enrollment to drive participation in voluntary benefits need to motivate employees to enroll and to provide the education necessary to make decisions with confidence,” says Navera CEO Steve Adams. Navera provides cloud-based education and decision support products that help individuals and their families make well-informed decisions about their benefits and insurance options.

“Simply making these benefits available isn’t enough,” according to Adams. “Voluntary benefits require education and decision support that engages users and leaves them comfortable with their decisions.”

To help employees become better benefits consumers, Adams suggests employers need to provide a world-class, self-service experience that treats employees as customers. This includes educating and advising employees according to their personal circumstances and in an engaging manner.

Recent surveys attest to the power of voluntary benefits to retain and recruit employees:

o 7 out of 10 surveyed employers said they offer voluntary benefits to increase company loyalty and 44% of employees strongly agree that having benefits customized to meet their needs would increase their loyalty, according to MetLife’s 12th Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study.

o Nearly one-half (46%) of surveyed employees said it is likely or very likely they would remain at their current employer primarily due to the voluntary products package offered, according to a survey by Harris Interactive on behalf of Transamerica Employee Benefits (TEB), a marketing unit of Transamerica Life Insurance Company.

o Most employees (65%) say it’s important their employer offer voluntary products and 62% say they would purchase voluntary benefits if faced with less comprehensive benefits due to health reform, according to the Transamerica Employee Benefits survey.

According to Adams, cloud-based self-service education and decision-support tools are available that enable employees to make well-informed decisions about their benefits selection. He offers the following guidance about what employers and brokers should look for in an online education and decision support tool:

- The tool presents all the information needed for an employee to make a well-informed decision.

- The information is easy to access, understand and navigate.

- The education is self-paced, driven by an employee’s previous experience or interest in specific products.

- The experience is engaging; it inspires an employee to learn more.

- The experience is personalized and relevant, driven by an individual employee’s profile.

- The experience is driven by unbiased, impartial information; employees can model scenarios that are relevant to them and their family.

- The tool easily integrates with existing online enrollment systems to create a seamless user experience.

- The tool is easily configured for any carrier product and easily customized to the employer.

- The tool is available to support employees during open enrollment and afterwards.

- The tool is easy to maintain and modify to accommodate changing benefit programs and plans.

About Navera
Navera is a leading provider of cloud-based education and decision support products that help employees and their families make well-informed choices about their health care benefits and insurance options. Headquartered in San Francisco, Navera’s interactive animated approach provides users with an engaging, informative, and relevant experience that increases participation and overall satisfaction with the benefits selection process. Navera delivers value to its broker, consultant, carrier and healthcare exchange partners by improving employee engagement and reducing communication costs. To learn more about Navera, please visit http://www.navera.com