January is when the election becomes a bill. The plan year turned over. The deductible is back at zero. The ID card is in a portal, in the mail, or nowhere. A child spikes a fever on a Sunday and somebody has to decide between urgent care and the emergency room. That week is the communication job: help them use the plan they already elected.
Forty-one percent of employees do not understand last year’s pick. January is when that gap shows up as a claim, a declined prescription, or a Saturday text to a supervisor. Close the loop you started in the week after enrollment. If they are on an HSA plan, the account may still be empty, which is the problem HDHP and HSA communication is built to prevent. And book one visit that is covered when it is billed as preventive, using preventive care communication.
A three-message week, and then stop
Message one is card status. Say where the digital card lives, when the plastic card was mailed, and what to do at the pharmacy if the pharmacist says they cannot see coverage. Name a person and a phone number. “Check the portal” is a dead end for anyone who cannot log in from a phone in a waiting room.
Message two is where to go. Urgent care, the nurse line, telehealth, and the emergency room, each with the situation that fits and the number to call. A sick kid at 8 p.m. needs that list on one screen. Put the hours on the line. A link that opens a 40-page PDF will not be opened in the car.
Message three is one preventive visit that is covered on your plan when it is billed as preventive. Say the real rule. If you are not sure a follow-up would still be covered at no cost, say that too, after you confirm it with the carrier. One visit. One way to book. Then stop. A fourth message about voluntary products can wait until February.
The questions that hit the help line
Deductible reset. People hear “new year” and assume last year’s progress still counts. Say, in one sentence, that the deductible and the out-of-pocket maximum start over on the plan’s effective date, and name that date. If your plan year is not January 1, say the real date. Guessing here creates the first angry ticket of the year.
HSA dollars that are not in the account yet. Payroll contributions and employer contributions often land after the first claim. Tell people the expected deposit date and what to do if they need to pay before the money arrives. Point them to the one step that turns a zero balance into a contribution. Leave investment education out of this week.
Pharmacy prior authorization. A prescription that filled in December can stop in January because the plan, the pharmacy, or the approval expired. Give the pharmacy phone number, the member service number, and the sentence: if the pharmacist says it is not covered, call this number before you pay cash or skip the dose. Specialty drugs need the longer path in a separate, private note. This week’s message is the front door.
Put it on a household page
The person who gets the fever is often not the employee. A spouse needs the card, the nurse line, and the urgent-care address without a work login and without a VPN. Build one page that holds those three things and the member service number. Send the employee the link and ask them to forward it once. That forward is the household brief.
Reach Equity™ fails when the only copy of the card instructions sits in a work inbox. Deskless employees need the same three facts by text, if they opted in, or by a QR where they clock in. The pattern is the same one in spouse and dependent communication and deskless and frontline employees. Managers get a card: here is the page, I do not know your deductible balance, call this number for a claim.
Write the page in the language the household uses if you already support it. A perfect English email that the person at home cannot use is a card they will not find. Keep medical detail off the text. The text says the card page is ready. The page holds the numbers.
What to count in the first two weeks
Count card requests, “where do I go” tickets, and pharmacy escalations. Split them by site if you can. A spike at one plant usually means the message never arrived there. A spike everywhere means the page is unclear or the card file is late. Fix the cause. Another all-staff reminder will not reprint an ID card.
Leave open enrollment language out of these notes. People already elected. They need to use the election. If you still owe them a confirmation of what they picked, send that as message zero, before the three-message week, using the post-enrollment sequence. Then run card, care, and one preventive visit. Report those three actions to the leader who asks what January communication was for. The employer scorecard will show whether reach or clarity is the hole. Ready-to-cut lines are on the templates page.
Key takeaways
- Run three messages: card status, where to go, one covered preventive visit.
- Say the deductible start date in one sentence. Use your plan year.
- Tell people when HSA dollars will land and what to do before they do.
- Give a phone number for a pharmacy rejection before anyone pays cash.
- Put the card, the nurse line, and urgent care on a page a spouse can open.
- Count card requests and care tickets. Skip a second enrollment campaign.
Frequently asked questions
What if ID cards have not arrived?
Say so, and say what to do tonight. Digital card path, pharmacy phone number, and member services. Give the date you expect plastic cards if you have it from the carrier. Silence sends people to the emergency room with no card and a bill they will bring to HR on Monday.
Should January re-explain the whole plan?
No. They need the card, the first-claim rules, and where to go for care. A full plan seminar belongs in enrollment. If someone does not know what they elected, send the confirmation, then the three January messages.
When do we talk about the HSA balance?
In the same week if the account is still at zero and they are on an HSA plan. Give the deposit timing and the one step to contribute. Save investment choices and tax strategy for a later month. The urgent job is a balance that can meet a bill.
How do we reach the person at home?
One no-login page with the card instructions, the nurse line, and urgent care. Ask the employee to forward it. Text the link to people who opted in. A work-email PDF will not be on the phone in a clinic parking lot.
Run the three-message January week: card status, where to go, and one covered preventive visit.
Kate transforms complex ideas into clear, actionable employee communications that drive behavior change, leading projects from strategy through production. A Texas A&M communications graduate and IABC member.
