2027 Open Enrollment Is Coming: What Employers Should Be Doing Now

Open enrollment may still feel months away, but for employers planning benefits for 2027, now is the time to get ahead.

And this year, starting early may matter more than usual.

Employers continue to face rising healthcare costs, changing plan designs, affordability concerns, and employees who need help understanding what their benefits actually mean for them.

The result? Open enrollment can't just be an annual administrative task.

It's an opportunity to take a closer look at your benefits strategy, improve the employee experience, and make enrollment easier for everyone involved.

Here’s what employers should be thinking about now.

When Should Employers Start Preparing for 2027 Open Enrollment?

For organizations with calendar-year benefit plans, planning should begin well before enrollment opens in the fall.

August is a good time to make sure conversations are already underway with your broker, benefits providers, payroll and HR partners, and internal stakeholders.

Starting early gives your organization more time to evaluate changes, prepare your technology, communicate with employees, and address problems before enrollment begins.

Waiting until the enrollment window opens can turn what should be a manageable process into a year-end scramble.

1. Understand What's Changing for 2027

Don't start with last year's benefits guide.

Start with what is actually changing.

Review your expected plan offerings, premiums, deductibles, copays, prescription coverage, provider networks, employer contributions, voluntary benefits, and other changes employees will need to understand.

Cost deserves particular attention.

Nearly half (48%) of large U.S. employers with 500 or more employees surveyed by Mercer expect to make medical plan changes for 2027, such as raising deductibles or copays, that will result in higher employee out-of-pocket costs.

If costs or coverage are changing, employees need more than a new rate sheet. They need context.

2. Review Your Benefits Through the Employee's Eyes

Employers spend significant time evaluating benefits.

Employees may spend a fraction of that time choosing them.

Take a step back and look at the experience from their perspective.

Can employees easily answer:

• What plans are available to me?
• What changed from last year?
• How much will each option cost me?
• What's the difference between the plans?
• Are my doctors in-network?
• How are my prescriptions covered?
• Am I eligible for an HSA?
• What happens if I don't make an election?

If those answers are difficult to find, open enrollment becomes harder than it needs to be.

3. Pay Attention to Affordability

Benefits remain an important part of an employee's total compensation, but employees ultimately experience those benefits through what comes out of their paycheck and what they pay when they need care.

That makes affordability a major part of the 2027 conversation.

Employers should look beyond the premium and consider deductibles, copays, coinsurance, prescription costs, employer contributions, and other expenses employees may encounter.

For employers subject to the Affordable Care Act's employer shared responsibility provisions, there is another number to know.

For plan years beginning in 2027, the ACA affordability percentage increases to 10.22%, up from 9.96% for 2026.

Employers should work with their benefits and compliance advisors to determine how the applicable requirements affect their organization and 2027 plan design.

4. Don't Just Communicate More. Communicate Better.

One of the biggest open enrollment mistakes is assuming that sending information means employees understand it.

A lengthy benefits guide may contain everything an employee needs to know, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the best way to help someone make a decision.

Start communicating before enrollment opens.

Tell employees:

What's changing.
Don't make them compare two benefits guides to figure it out.

What they need to do.
Be clear about whether employees must actively enroll or whether certain elections will carry forward.

When they need to do it.
Make deadlines obvious and repeat them.

Where they can get help.
Employees should know exactly where to go when they have questions.

Use multiple communication channels when appropriate: email, employee self-service, meetings, manager communications, reminders, videos, FAQs, and other resources.

The goal isn't more communication.

It's fewer surprises.

5. Know the 2027 HSA Numbers

If your organization offers a high-deductible health plan paired with a Health Savings Account, the IRS has already announced the 2027 limits.

For 2027:

HSA contribution limits

• Self-only coverage: $4,500
• Family coverage: $9,000

Minimum HDHP deductibles

• Self-only coverage: $1,750
• Family coverage: $3,500

Maximum HDHP out-of-pocket expenses

• Self-only coverage: $8,700
• Family coverage: $17,400

These numbers should be reflected accurately in your plan materials, enrollment system, employee communications, and related processes where applicable.

6. Make Sure Your Enrollment Technology Is Ready

Open enrollment is not the time to discover that eligibility rules are incorrect, rates weren't loaded properly, or employees can't find what they need.

Before enrollment begins, review your system configuration.

Confirm:

• Plan options and rates
• Eligibility rules
• Employee and dependent information
• Enrollment dates
• Required documentation
• Payroll deductions
• Carrier connections
• Employee-facing plan information
• Confirmation and reporting processes

The technology should make open enrollment easier, not create another layer of work for HR.

7. Give Employees a Better Way to Compare Their Options

Benefits decisions can be complicated.

An employee may be comparing a traditional medical plan with a high-deductible health plan. One may have a lower premium but higher potential out-of-pocket costs. Another may provide access to an HSA.

There isn't necessarily one "best" option for everyone.

That's why a good enrollment experience should help employees understand their choices rather than simply display them.

Clear plan comparisons, costs, educational resources, and guided enrollment tools can help employees make more confident decisions without relying on HR to answer every question individually.

8. Look Beyond Medical Insurance

Open enrollment is also an opportunity to remind employees about the full value of their benefits package.

Depending on what your organization offers, that could include:

• Dental and vision coverage
• Life and disability insurance
• Health Savings Accounts
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Employee assistance programs
• Voluntary benefits
• Wellness resources
• Retirement benefits
• Other employer-sponsored programs

Employees can't value a benefit they don't know exists or don't understand how to use.

9. Connect Benefits Enrollment With Payroll

A benefits election doesn't end when an employee clicks "submit."

The information needs to flow accurately into payroll and, where applicable, to carriers and other systems.

Manual processes and duplicate data entry can create opportunities for errors, especially when HR teams are managing a high volume of elections in a short period of time.

An integrated benefits and payroll process can help reduce administrative work, minimize duplicate entry, and give HR better visibility throughout enrollment.

10. Plan for What Happens After Enrollment Closes

A successful open enrollment isn't measured only by whether everyone submitted an election.

Before you call enrollment complete, have a process for reviewing:

• Employees who haven't completed required actions
• Elections that need additional documentation
• Payroll deduction accuracy
• Carrier enrollment information
• Coverage effective dates
• Outstanding employee questions
• Confirmation statements
• Post-enrollment corrections

Catching an issue before the first payroll or coverage effective date is much easier than fixing it afterward.

What Is Different About Open Enrollment for 2027?

For many employers, one of the biggest issues heading into 2027 is continued pressure on healthcare affordability.

Nearly half of the large U.S. employers surveyed by Mercer expect medical plan changes that will increase employee out-of-pocket costs in 2027.

At the same time, employers are looking for different ways to manage those pressures. Mercer found that 31% of large employers currently offer, or plan to offer in 2027, at least one non-traditional medical plan, such as a high-performance network or variable copay plan.

That makes clear communication even more important.

Employees shouldn't first discover a meaningful change when they're halfway through enrollment.

How Can Employers Make Open Enrollment Easier?

The best open enrollment experiences have a few things in common.

They start early.

They make changes easy to understand.

They give employees access to the information they need.

And they use technology to eliminate unnecessary administrative work.

CTR Payroll | HR's Benefits Administration solution brings benefits enrollment, employee information, and payroll together in one connected platform.

Employees can review and compare plan options and complete enrollment online, while HR can reduce paperwork, manual updates, and time spent chasing enrollment information.

Changes can also flow across payroll and benefits and, through available integrations, to insurance carriers and benefit providers.

Less paperwork. Fewer manual steps. A better experience for HR and employees.

Start Preparing for 2027 Open Enrollment Now

Open enrollment doesn't have to become one more year-end fire drill.

The work employers do before enrollment opens can make the biggest difference.

Review your plans. Get your systems ready. Build your communication strategy. Make sure employees understand what's changing.

And give your HR team the tools to manage the process without doing all the heavy lifting manually.

Ready to simplify your next open enrollment? Contact us to discuss our Benefits Administration & Open Enrollment solution.