Everything Louisiana employers need to do before, during, and after open enrollment — organized by timeline.
90–120 Days Before Open Enrollment
This is your planning window. Decisions made here determine whether open enrollment runs smoothly or becomes a scramble.
☐ Request a full market analysis from your broker
Don't wait for your renewal package to arrive. Request an independent market analysis at least 90 days before your renewal date. This gives you time to actually evaluate alternatives — not just react to whatever your carrier sends. If your broker can't or won't run a full market comparison, that's a signal.
☐ Pull your prior year claims data
If you're on a fully insured plan, request a claims experience report from your carrier. This data tells you where your plan spend is actually going — and it's essential for shopping level-funded or self-funded alternatives. Carriers are required to provide this.
☐ Review your current plan performance
Compare your prior year's premium to your actual claims paid. If your carrier collected significantly more in premium than they paid in claims, you left money on the table. A loss ratio analysis quantifies this.
☐ Identify benefits gaps reported by employees
Talk to your HR team. What benefits questions did employees ask all year? What was confusing? What did they wish they had? This input should inform plan design decisions, not just communication strategy.
☐ Confirm your renewal deadline and plan year dates
Louisiana employers often miss favorable plan redesign opportunities because they don't know their actual deadline. Confirm the date by which you must notify your carrier of changes — this is usually 30–60 days before your plan year start date.
60 Days Before Open Enrollment
☐ Finalize plan selections
Whether you're renewing, switching carriers, or introducing new plan options, finalize your decisions now. Changes made at the last minute create enrollment errors and compliance exposure.
☐ Confirm ERISA compliance requirements
Self-funded plans and certain benefit arrangements have specific ERISA disclosure obligations. Confirm your Summary Plan Description (SPD) is current, your Form 5500 filing status is up to date, and your plan documents reflect actual plan terms.
☐ Prepare your Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC)
The ACA requires employers to distribute an updated SBC to employees before open enrollment begins. This must be provided at least 60 days before any material plan changes take effect.
☐ Update your benefits administration platform
If you use Employee Navigator or a similar ben-admin system, load updated plan options, rates, and contribution structures before enrollment opens. Errors here are time-consuming to correct after the fact.
☐ Set contribution strategy
Review your employer contribution levels. Are they competitive enough to drive participation? Louisiana employers on level-funded or self-funded plans have more flexibility here — contribution structures can be adjusted to improve both participation rates and cost control.
30 Days Before Open Enrollment
☐ Communicate plan changes clearly — in plain language
Most employees don't read their benefits documents. What they do respond to is clear, direct communication about what's changing, what it means for their paycheck, and what they need to do during enrollment. Lead with the employee impact, not the plan mechanics.
☐ Prepare a side-by-side plan comparison
If you're offering multiple plan options, give employees a simple comparison showing premiums, deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, and common copays side by side. Decision fatigue during enrollment is real — make it easy to choose.
☐ Schedule enrollment support sessions
Remote workers, shift employees, and hourly staff often miss enrollment windows because they don't have easy access to HR. Schedule brief group sessions — in-person or virtual — and build in time for individual questions.
☐ Prepare for COBRA and state continuation
Any employee who loses coverage due to a qualifying event during the plan year is entitled to continuation coverage. Confirm your COBRA administration process is current. Louisiana employers with fewer than 20 enrolled employees are subject to Louisiana state continuation rules rather than federal COBRA.
☐ Send a pre-enrollment reminder with key dates
A simple email with your enrollment window, the ben-admin platform link, and a list of what employees need to decide is enough. Send it twice — employees miss the first one.
During Open Enrollment
☐ Track participation daily
Don't wait until the enrollment window closes to find out who hasn't completed their elections. A ben-admin system like Employee Navigator shows real-time completion status. Send targeted reminders to employees who haven't started.
☐ Document any employee waivers
Employees who decline coverage should sign a written waiver. This protects the employer in the event of a future dispute about enrollment eligibility.
☐ Verify dependent eligibility
Open enrollment is the right time to audit dependent enrollment. Confirm that dependents listed on employee plans are eligible under your plan terms. Ineligible dependents are a claims cost and a compliance risk.
After Open Enrollment Closes
☐ Confirm carrier enrollment submissions
Verify that all enrollment changes were submitted to your carriers correctly. Errors in this step — wrong effective dates, missing dependents, incorrect plan codes — are the most common source of claims problems in the first 60 days of a new plan year.
☐ Issue updated ID cards and plan documents
Employees should receive new ID cards and updated plan summary documents before their coverage effective date. Gaps here drive unnecessary member services calls and ER visits at higher out-of-pocket cost.
☐ Set a mid-year plan review date
Put a 6-month plan review on the calendar now. A mid-year check of claims data, participation rates, and cost trends gives you a head start on next year's renewal — and lets you catch problems before they compound.
Calculate Your Savings
Enter three numbers and see what your health plan is actually costing you — takes 30 seconds, no documents needed.
One More Thing
Open enrollment is also the best moment each year to step back and ask whether your current plan structure is actually serving your business — or just renewing by default.
If you're a Louisiana employer who hasn't run a full market analysis in the past 12 months, open enrollment season is the right time to do it.