Small-group health insurance plans renew annually. Here's what benefits admins can expect at renewal and how to choose your company's renewal package in Gusto.
Employees: head to this article for steps to enroll in or waive coverage during open enrollment. To figure out when your open enrollment is, open the accordion below to find your benefits renewal date.
Want to know when your company will go through open enrollment? If Gusto’s your broker, follow the steps below to find your benefits renewal date(s).
Check out the renewal timeline to learn more about what to expect in the lead-up to open enrollment. Gusto emails benefit admins when it’s time to sign in and choose which plans to offer your team at open enrollment.
If you’re not enrolled in coverage, or if another broker manages your company’s benefits, ask your employer for your company’s next renewal date.
If you’re enrolled in your company’s benefits through Gusto:
Gusto emails all eligible employees when it’s time to sign in and make your selections in Gusto.
15 weeks before your renewal date
6-8 weeks prior to your renewal date
4-8 weeks before your renewal date
~1 week after you choose your company’s renewal package
After open enrollment
2-4 weeks after open enrollment
Before you start, here are some FAQs to consider:
For each line of coverage, you can review what's changing at renewal and make plan changes if desired. You can also change your company contribution and new hire waiting period. We partner with multiple nationwide carriers and our licensed benefits advisors are available to help you select the best options for your team.
Premium prices usually increase each year, but sometimes carriers will change plan details too.
Cost summary
We’ll show you how much the cost of your current plan is changing and we’ll use your current enrollment info (which employees are enrolled) to give you an estimated cost. That will change if your team makes other health insurance choices and/or dependent changes.
Plan summary
In this section you’ll see a list of the current plans you offer within that line of coverage (health, vision, dental, etc). Use the link below each plan to read the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC)—that’s the fine print that tells you what, if anything, is changing. To compare, use the info icon to take a look at the SBC for the retiring plan, and the new plan.
If you’re ok with the changes and you want to offer the same plan options, click Keep default plans. If you want to look at other options, click Explore alternate packages—you can return to your default plan after you’ve explored other options if you want to keep it.
On this screen you’ll find:
Our team of licensed advisors will provide some notes above each plan to help you decide. You can also click on the link below each plan to review the SBC. Just like on the previous screen, we’ll give you a cost summary based on how your team is currently enrolled—but that’s an estimate and costs will vary depending on how your team chooses to enroll.
If you need a refresher to compare against your current plans, scroll to the bottom of the page to take a look at those details. The “expiring package” is there for reference, but you can’t choose it because it isn’t offered next year. The “default renewal package” is the current plan you have with the carrier’s upcoming changes—use that to compare the differences.
Once you’ve chosen your plan, click Save selection.
The last step is to make updates to your waiting period and contribution scheme—or you can leave them as-is. We’ll give you more cost estimates (including how much your team might pay) based on contribution changes.
When you’re finished making changes, click Save. If you want to go back, click Back to package selection.
Complete these steps for each line of coverage, or click Add plan if you want to add a new line of coverage you didn’t offer last year. Once your package is complete, click Sign forms. Once you’ve signed, click Continue.
We’ll provide one last summary page to review. Take a final glance to make sure you’re happy with next year’s benefits package and click Confirm and submit.