Open Enrollment Periods (OEP) and the subsequent delivery of onboarding materials—especially for returning members—represent one of the most important touchpoints in the member journey each year. These communications consistently generate some of the highest read and engagement rates of any required outreach, making them a powerful opportunity to highlight value, build confidence, and establish trust that carries throughout the year.
Done well, open enrollment communications don’t just inform—they set the tone for the entire member relationship.
In 2025, mPulse and Clarity Software Solutions came together to unite leadership in digital member engagement, health portals, and regulated member communications. Across 56 health plans supported through open enrollment, several key insights emerged—insights that point to meaningful opportunities through the end of 2026.
The Reality of Returning Members: Retention Is the Growth Strategy
The majority of health plan members during open enrollment are “returning”—although the term itself is misleading. These members never left. As growth across many lines of business slows, retention becomes the most critical driver of stability and performance.
Yet during the 2025 OEP, fewer than 30% of health plans personalized member communications beyond basic attributes such as:
- Member name
- Prior year enrollment status
- The plan selected for the coming year
That leaves significant value on the table.
Members are no longer passive participants, they are actively evaluating, comparing and switching plans. As options expand across markets, experience now plays a defining role in how confident members feels about the decision they’ve made.
First Impressions Matter: How Onboarding Defines Member Experience
Moving Beyond Basic Personalization
Most missed opportunities stem from the same challenge: communications that don’t reflect how members actually use—or struggle to use—their benefits.
High impact personalization means tailoring messages based on behavior, needs, and friction points, such as:
Portal use
- Include a portal activation call to action (CTA) for members who are not enrolled
- Avoid that CTA entirely for members who are already active portal users
Care gaps and preventive behavior
- Highlight fully covered preventive screenings to members with known care gaps
- Avoid prioritizing these messages for members who already follow routine screenings
When messages align to real member behavior, engagement increases—and so does trust.
Supporting New Members Without Overwhelming Them
For new members, open enrollment communications are foundational. They create early confidence and reduce anxiety throughout the first year. The opportunity is not to say more, but to say the right things at the right time.
High value onboarding content proactively addresses the areas most likely to create friction, including:
- What to expect from the first bill
- When and why prior authorization is required
- Where to go first when help is needed
By anticipating “How does this work?” moments, health plans prevent “Why is this so hard?” experiences.
Connecting Open Enrollment to Digital Navigation
Leading health plans are increasingly treating open enrollment as the starting point of a digital navigation journey, not a standalone event.
Member packets and enrollment materials can:
- Direct members into digital navigation and portal experiences
- Reinforce how digital tools support care, benefits, and decision making
- Build continuity between onboarding and ongoing engagement throughout the year
This approach extends the value of required materials and reduces downstream confusion and service burden.
Doing More With Less: Driving Value From Required Touchpoints
As health plans face mounting cost pressures, finding ways to drive more value from required communications is no longer just smart—it’s an operational necessity.
“Doing more with less” does not mean more messages. In fact, more engagement is not always better engagement.
By embedding targeted CTAs—such as quality or performance initiatives—into regulated open enrollment materials, plans can:
- Reduce the need for additional outreach later
- Maximize required document production investments
- Improve alignment between engagement and operational goals
A common barrier is data availability within document production timelines, highlighting the importance of a centralized, actionable member dataset that supports both communications and engagement strategies.
Aligning Open Enrollment With CAHPS Performance
CAHPS surveys are fielded just months after members receive onboarding materials. For members enrolled for six months or more, this timing creates a powerful opportunity.
Open enrollment and onboarding materials can:
- Reinforce benefits and services that influence CAHPS responses
- Address known pain points before they surface in surveys
- Support personalevel messaging aligned across teams
Cross functional collaboration between communications, quality, and engagement teams is critical to unlocking this opportunity.
Trust Is Built Through Ease
Member trust grows when people feel confident in their ability to navigate benefits and access care without friction. Every avoided “Why is this so hard?” moment strengthens the relationship.
The most effective health plans:
- Analyze patterns of frustration from the prior year
- Invest in member facing solutions that remove those barriers
- Surface those solutions clearly and consistently in member packets
Open enrollment is not just about coverage—it’s about confidence.
Looking Ahead
Open enrollment remains one of the most underutilized levers for meaningful member engagement. With the right data, alignment, and intentional design, health plans can transform required materials into a strategic asset—one that drives retention, satisfaction, and longterm value well beyond enrollment season.
