About 20% review benefits carefully despite confidence, MetLife finds

By Nathan Brooks

MetLife found that 58% of employees spent less than one hour choosing their benefits. Censuswide conducted MetLife's Open Enrollment Survey among 2,002 U.S. adults from Oct. 15-19, 2026. More than six in 10 employees felt confident their benefits would protect them in a major life event. Only about one in five reviewed their options carefully each year.

For employers, the survey turns open enrollment into a year-round people-process issue. HR leaders face choices about how to support employees between annual elections. Brokers, plan sponsors and carriers share responsibility for making coverage understandable throughout the year. The survey also links open-enrollment behavior to financial security and employer costs that many organizations have not connected to annual enrollment.

What does confidence hide?

MetLife's research found that half of employees had delayed or avoided medical care because of out-of-pocket costs. Madden said perceived confidence does not necessarily mean employees understand how coverage works during an unexpected illness, injury or other life event.

Jamie Madden, MetLife's senior vice president of Workforce Engagement and Benefits Connectivity, said employees may enroll year after year and assume their protection still fits. “Needs change. Families grow, health needs evolve, and financial priorities shift,” Madden said.

She said premium-focused education can leave employees exposed while plan sponsors carry the resulting productivity and absenteeism costs that often remain outside benefits-budget line items.

MetLife's research also found that nearly half of U.S. adults had cut or were considering cutting their workplace benefits as costs rose. Among those who later wished they had chosen differently, 35% said they focused too much on monthly cost and not enough on coverage depth.

Which decisions matter beyond premiums?

MetLife's research identified four forms of help that employees value most:

• Side-by-side benefit comparisons
• Plain-language explanations
• Out-of-pocket cost estimates
• Recommendations tailored to individual health and financial circumstances

MetLife frames those preferences as a call for personalization, not simply more information volume. Madden said employees need support throughout the year so they understand what benefits cover and when they can help. She assigned shared responsibility to brokers, plan sponsors and carriers, with the action window extending beyond open enrollment season.

Madden said employees who regret their choices or lack confidence may delay care, avoid benefits or face unexpected financial strain. Madden said the employer effects are lower productivity, higher absenteeism and greater financial stress, although they do not appear as line items on the benefits budget.

MetLife's study also reports that holistically healthy employees are more productive and take fewer sick days. MetLife presents the findings as a measurable return on investment in benefits engagement. For HR directors and CFOs, MetLife's data reframes open enrollment from an administrative event into a strategic benefits investment with measurable workforce consequences for employers.

Can year-round guidance improve decisions?

MetLife's Upwise platform prompts employees throughout the year to explore benefits tied to their current life stage. It offers individualized guidance before a crisis forces employees to examine their coverage. Employers evaluating Upwise must test whether employees use prompts outside enrollment, act on tailored recommendations and change care and coverage decisions behind the survey findings.

According to Madden, 64% of Upwise users said personalized guidance made benefits decisions easier. She also said a stronger connection to benefits increases confidence in choosing suitable coverage.

MetLife's broader survey found that 43% of employees wished they had chosen differently after enrollment. Madden said the same preference points toward faster access to specific guidance rather than more time with generic materials.

MetLife noted that its 58% finding also appears in other recent research. Madden rejected a simple increase in enrollment time as the goal. A good benefits decision, she said, depends on understanding what protection covers and how choices fit individual circumstances.

What changes for brokers by 2028?

Asked how the group benefits advisor's value proposition may look in two years, Madden said technology will take over more transactional and data-heavy elements of benefits administration. Looking toward 2028, she expects carriers and platforms to provide more personalized employee-level support. That would let brokers concentrate on workforce-needs analysis, market navigation, strategic benefits decisions and trusted relationships. She also expects brokers to continue providing market expertise and insight for plan design, renewals, option evaluation, benefits strategy and value.

“Brokers are trusted strategic partners to employers, and that role will only grow as employers navigate rising health care costs, changing workforce needs, and an increasingly complex benefits landscape,” Madden said.

She assigns brokers strategic counsel, employers responsibility for understanding their workforce, and carriers and benefits providers the solutions, technology and support that turn benefits strategy into a better employee experience. For employers, the 2028 test is whether year-round guidance turns fewer regretted choices into less delayed care, lower absenteeism and measurable returns on benefits engagement.