How does Service 1st Benefits support my business during open enrollment?

We personally manage the entire open enrollment process — from educating employees to handling enrollment forms and answering plan questions. Our goal is to make open enrollment smooth and stress-free for everyone.

Can employees contact you directly for help?

Yes. Employees can reach out to us anytime for questions about claims, coverage, ID cards, or plan details. We act as your team’s benefits partner, not just your broker.

What size businesses do you work with?

We specialize in serving small and medium-sized businesses, typically ranging from 1–200 employees. If you’re growing or planning to expand, we help scale your benefits as your team grows.

Do you handle communication with insurance carriers for us?

Absolutely. We take care of claims issues, employee changes, renewals, and any carrier communication so you don’t have to spend hours on hold.

Do you offer voluntary or supplemental benefits?

Yes. We can provide optional add-ons like disability, accident, or critical illness insurance to enhance your benefits package at little or no cost to the employer.

What types of group benefits do you offer?

We provide comprehensive group health, dental, vision, and life insurance options for small and medium-sized businesses. We help you compare plans, handle enrollment, and manage carrier communication.

What information do you need to provide a quote?

We typically need: Number of employees Basic employee census (age, gender, ZIP code) Current plan (if applicable) Desired benefits or coverage goals We keep the process as simple as possible.

Do you charge fees for your services?

No. Our services — including plan comparison, open enrollment, and year-round support — are provided at no additional cost to your business.

Open Enrollment Checklist: 90-Day Prep for OK Employers

Charlie Hopgood

Jul 27

2 min read

Ninety days before your plan year ends is when open enrollment prep should start — not 30. Here's exactly what to do at each stage so nothing gets rushed.

We've written before about the mistakes that come from starting late. This is the checklist that prevents them.

90 days out: Review and shop

Pull your current plan's claims experience and utilization from your broker or carrier
Re-shop the market — even if you like your current carrier, you need a real comparison to negotiate from
Decide if plan design changes (deductibles, contribution structure, adding a level-funded option) are worth exploring this year

60 days out: Decide and communicate

Finalize plan selections and contribution strategy
Draft employee communications — what's changing, what's staying the same, and why
If you're changing carriers or platforms, confirm ID card timelines so there's no coverage gap on day one

45 days out: Build the enrollment process

Load plan options into your enrollment platform (Employee Navigator or similar) if you're not still doing this on paper
Schedule employee meetings or one-on-ones — don't rely on a single all-staff email to cover plan changes
Prepare answers for the questions you already know are coming (cost changes, network changes, dependent eligibility)

30 days out: Open enrollment window

Open the enrollment window and actively monitor completion — don't wait until the deadline to see who hasn't finished
Send reminders at the halfway point and 3 days before close
Flag employees who haven't started, not just those who haven't finished

14 days out: Close and confirm

Close enrollment and audit for errors — missing dependents, wrong tier selections, incomplete forms
Submit final enrollment to the carrier with buffer time before the plan year starts
Confirm ID cards and platform access will be ready for day one

After go-live

Send a short "how to use your new benefits" reminder in week one — this is when claims questions spike
Log any issues that came up this cycle so next year's 90-day window starts from a shorter list

Skip the spreadsheet next year

If this timeline sounds like more coordination than your team has bandwidth for, that's exactly what a broker should be managing for you. Talk to Service 1st Benefits about running your next open enrollment start to finish.