Over half (53%) of large U.S. employers are making changes to their 2011 health plans in order to accommodate the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a survey by the National Business Group on Health.

Providers face rising health care costs but still must supply the legally required amount of care.  To do so, 63% of employers who are changing plan details have decided to raise the percentage that employees contribute to the premium, while 46% aim to raise out-of-pocket maximums.  Another 61% will be offering consumer-directed health plans, or CDHPs, which are a proven method of increasing consumer flexibility while cutting costs.

With so many benefits changing, it is important that employees thoroughly understand the developments and the reasons behind them.  The efforts that must be undertaken to get an employee to fully understand a CDHP are substantial and probably well telegraphed at this point.  If your strategy is to introduce this complex new benefit with a few vendor-provided brochures, you’ll likely end up with the status quo – single digit adoption rates.

When changing health plans, benefits communication can help focus on the positive.

Shifting a larger share of the cost to employees will likely be seen as a negative no matter what you do.   But, it’s never a good idea to let employees come to their own conclusions about those changes.  With effective benefits communication, you can provide context and position plan changes with your employees. Further, you can show them how to better utilize their plans and capture the cost-savings opportunities that are available to them.  Investing in benefits communication is perhaps the easiest and most cost-effective way to improve the perception that employees have about their benefits and about you as an employer, even in the wake of negative changes.