Many employees today may find themselves in the beginning months of a new benefits period. Yet whether they re-enrolled in the same policies they had previously or elected new ones, they might not make full use of their non-medical workplace benefits throughout 2025 without fully understanding the coverage and services available to them.
To help change this trajectory and empower consumers to take advantage of their benefits, carriers today are investing in digital tools more than ever before to provide members with resources that meet their well-being needs. These solutions are focused on making learning about and accessing both insurance and non-insurance coverages as simple and intuitive as possible. This presents a unique opportunity for brokers to connect the dots for employers and their workforces. By advising their clients on how to make the most of digital tools and resources across benefit offerings, brokers can help support employee well-being in the year ahead.
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Showcasing the richness of available support
To encourage engagement and offer comprehensive coverage, some carriers have begun to include wellness resources directly within traditional insurance products. If employees don't know about these benefits, they can't use them—and the implications can be significant.
Take the millions of full-time working Americans who have non-work-related caregiving responsibilities. A recent Guardian study found that these caregivers are two times more likely than non-caregivers to need to take a leave of absence from work. Employer-provided disability insurance may offer curated caregiver support solutions, including digital planning tools, a caregiving concierge, and a peer support network. These resources can help to minimize the need for an employee to take a leave of absence for caregiving duties. Given this approach remains innovative today, supporting awareness and access through digital self-service channels is critical.
Tobacco cessation is another example. While smoking rates are down overall, there is an alarming increase in teenage vaping rates, and almost a third of working Americans continue to use tobacco products, according to Guardian research. Yet two-thirds of workers say they would be very interested in using a tobacco cessation program through their dental insurance plan if it was complimentary.
Ultimately, embedded wellness offerings that leverage digital touchpoints to offer frictionless access to services can help make a difference when it comes to fostering employees' mental, physical, and financial well-being. As workers look to make the most of their benefits this year, brokers can help their employer clients educate their workforce about any wellness offerings included in their benefits package to ensure they use all available digital features and, in turn, tap the full scope of these resources.
Leveraging digital platforms to streamline information
Digital features are key to enhancing wellness offerings, but they're not the only way that tech-enabled solutions can encourage benefits usage and support well-being. There is also an opportunity to make important benefits information and related resources easier to access.
What does that look like in practice? Our research shows that more than 51% of employers would be interested in a single platform through which all wellness-related benefits could be made available. Further, employees who have access to a more digital benefits experience self-report better well-being than workers who don't.
In response, carriers are working to bring this digital experience to life through various digital hubs designed to help ease access to wellness benefits for members. These platforms typically include educational content on mental, physical, and financial well-being, as well as family and community support topics. Additional resources often include third-party fitness classes led by virtual instructors for people of all fitness levels, as well as wellness articles that are regularly refreshed and focus on the connection between mental and physical health.
For employers looking to offer a more comprehensive digital benefits experience for employees, brokers can use the opportunity to highlight the resources carriers are making available to streamline information and drive engagement.
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Now is the time to get started
At a time when technology is integral to so many aspects of our everyday lives and carriers are embracing digital tools like never before, brokers can play a key role, supporting employers in helping their workforce to make the most of digital offerings.
When employees understand how to leverage the benefits available to them, including through embedded digital offerings or streamlined digital platforms, they're more likely to use them. It's a crucial way that brokers and employers can support employee well-being across mind, body, and wallet.
