Rising healthcare costs are pushing benefits communication from a routine enrollment task to a strategic HR function, according to a Brown & Brown analysis on how employers can support employee decisions during open enrollment.

The insurance broker's argument is straightforward: as employees shoulder a growing share of medical costs, the quality and timing of benefits communication directly affects whether workers choose plans that fit their needs — and whether they understand the value of the total rewards package their employer funds.

Why does communication matter more now?

When premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket exposure climb, employees face harder trade-offs at enrollment. A plan that looks cheapest on paper can prove expensive if it misaligns with an employee's actual care usage. Brown & Brown frames communication as the mechanism that closes that gap: employees who understand plan structures, cost-sharing rules and available support tools make better selections and are less likely to be surprised by bills mid-year.

For HR teams, the practical implication touches several people processes:

• Open enrollment planning. Communication campaigns need to start earlier and run longer than a single announcement cycle.
• Total rewards statements. Employees often underestimate employer spending on their behalf; communicating the full cost of coverage strengthens retention messaging.
• Decision support. Plan comparison tools, FAQs and access to benefits counselors reduce choice overload.
• Year-round engagement. Cost pressure does not pause after enrollment, so communication about savings vehicles and care options should continue throughout the plan year.

What should employers actually change?

Brown & Brown's guidance centers on making benefits information usable rather than merely available. That means plain-language summaries instead of plan documents, multiple channels — email, intranet, manager briefings — instead of a single blast, and messaging segmented to different employee life situations, since a 26-year-old and a parent of three weigh very different trade-offs.

The broker also positions communication as a defensive tool for employers. Confused employees are more likely to express dissatisfaction with benefits even when the underlying plans are competitive. Clear, repeated explanation of what changed, why it changed and what tools exist can absorb some of the frustration that cost increases generate.

For HR leaders, the measurement question follows naturally: are employees actually reading the materials, and can they correctly answer basic questions about their own plans after enrollment? Surveying comprehension — not just open rates — gives teams a baseline for improving the next cycle.

What comes next?

Healthcare cost growth shows little sign of reversing, so benefits communication budgets and workflows are likely to face continued scrutiny as employers decide whether to treat them as administrative overhead or as a lever for plan satisfaction and retention.