Why Enrollment Regret Is a Bigger Risk Than Rising Premiums
And What HR & Brokers Can Do About It
If your benefits planning calendar feels dominated by rising premiums and renewal pricing, you’re not alone. Hard numbers make it easy to budget, negotiate, and benchmark. But there’s another risk that doesn’t show up in your renewal quote—and it may quietly be costing you more than a few basis points on cost sharing: employee enrollment regret.
According to recent research, about one in three employees say they regret a benefits decision they made during open enrollment. That’s not a footnote—it’s a signal that something deeper is undermining the value you worked so hard to deliver.
We’ll explain why enrollment regret matters, how it impacts your organization, and how HR teams (and their broker partners) can turn regret into confidence—without breaking the benefits budget.
Rising Premiums Are Predictable. Regret Isn’t.
Yes, healthcare costs continue to rise—and yes, HR teams and brokers plan for that. But rising premiums are a known challenge. You can model them, strategize around them, and build them into your renewal negotiation goals.
Enrollment regret, by contrast, is unpredictable and harder to quantify—especially when it’s hidden in employee behavior:
- 39% of employees delayed or skipped care because they weren’t sure what their plan covered.
- 21% missed work dealing with benefits-related hurdles.
That’s not just personal frustration—it’s lost productivity and lowered morale.
Regret isn’t just an HR issue—it’s an organizational risk that quietly drains engagement and satisfaction.
Why Enrollment Regret Happens (It’s Not Employee Laziness)
A common myth is that employees don’t care about benefits. Research shows the opposite: employees want benefits that make sense, but too often the process gets in the way.
Here’s what the data tells us:
- 70% of employees complete their open enrollment in under an hour, despite making decisions that affect health, finances, and family all year long.
- Only 27% say they fully understand their benefits.
- And just 16% use a decision-support tool during enrollment.
It’s like asking someone to plan a major life event in the time it takes to watch a sitcom—and then being surprised when they feel uncertain afterward.
Employees aren’t careless. They’re under-supported, rushed, and overwhelmed by jargon, fine print, and generic messages.
The Real Cost of a Wrong Choice
Think about the last time you made a purchase—or even a huge decision—without all the information you needed. You felt uneasy, right?
For benefits, that unease becomes regret, and regret has consequences:
- Employees may delay care because they didn’t decode plan differences.
- They may worry through the year about whether they chose well.
- They may come to HR or your broker asking for clarifications mid-year.
Regret becomes a trust issue—not just a benefits issue.
One of our recent blog posts digs deeper into how the enrollment experience breaks down and what better communication looks like in practice (hint: it’s not more messages—it’s better ones).
Enrollment Planning = Benefits ROI
Rising costs make it even more important to ensure employees make good choices. Every misunderstood plan option is a dollar of benefits spend that doesn’t translate into value for your workforce.
Here’s the good news: it’s a fixable problem.
Strategic enrollment planning can:
- Improve benefits understanding across your organization
- Increase utilization of key programs (e.g., preventive care, wellness, voluntary benefits)
- Reduce support load for HR during and after open enrollment
- Strengthen trust in the total rewards you offer
If you’re interested in tools and strategies to support this shift, our Open Enrollment Guide offers a year-round roadmap you can follow right now.
The Broker’s Role: From Renewals to Experience Strategy
Brokers play an increasingly strategic role—not just in negotiating premiums but in helping clients design the experience that surrounds benefits.
A recent Selerix resource highlights how brokers can lead a post-open enrollment benefits reset—examining what just happened, what worked, what didn’t, and how to build a stronger plan experience for next year.
That’s a huge opportunity to deepen relationships, elevate client outcomes, and demonstrate value beyond renewals:
- Help HR teams analyze enrollment feedback and trends
- Advocate for tools that support decision confidence (e.g., decision support and tailored communication)
- Turn insights into strategic improvements before the next plan year begins
Pragmatic Steps to Reduce Regret (and Boost Confidence)
Here are actions HR & brokers can take to where it matters:
1. Start Communication Early
Don’t wait for “open enrollment week.” Begin messaging months ahead with clear, segmented education.
Explore creative ways to boost engagement with real examples in this HR engagement guide.
2. Make Messages Matter
Reduce jargon. Answer the three questions employees silently ask:
Is this for me? What should I do now? Will I be okay if I choose this?
When communication does that, confidence increases and regret drops.
3. Use Personalized Decision Support
Tools aren’t useful if they’re buried. Make decision support obvious, personalized and easy to use—your employees will thank you.
4. Treat Benefits as a Year-Round Experience
Open enrollment shouldn’t be a sprint—it’s a starting line. Continuous engagement keeps benefits top-of-mind and improves long-term utilization. Get some tips to increase year-round benefits engagement. Think of open enrolment as a campaign, not just an announcement.
Rising premiums are a headline issue—but enrollment regret is a quiet problem that subtly undermines your ROI and employee trust.
If you’re focused on benefits that work, not just benefits that are affordable, you need a strategy that goes beyond spreadsheets. You need a strategy that helps your people decide confidently.
Download The Open Enrollment Reset—your full, research-backed guide to eliminating regret and building a benefits experience your workforce actually understands and appreciates.
