MetLife’s Upwise Helps Drive Up Benefits Enrollment, Engagement and Value

October 02, 2024 at 08:00 AM EDT

This year nearly one million employees will experience this industry-leading personalized decision support and utilization platform

Today’s workforce values the ability to choose from a diverse set of benefits—66% of employees say they want more benefits to choose from, up from 60% in 2023¹. But while interest in benefits is clear, lack of benefit comprehension is also on the rise with more than half of employees (55%) saying that they do not fully understand their benefits package¹.

Open enrollment offers employers a critical opportunity to address these employee needs and shift their approach to benefit selection. This open enrollment season, nearly one million U.S. employees will have the opportunity to experience MetLife’s Upwise, a proprietary solution designed to help employees choose benefits wisely and use them seamlessly. Upwise enhances the benefit experience with personalized benefit recommendations, including a major medical benefit recommendation that utilizes AI, and guidance based on an employee’s individual needs and preferences. Informed benefit election and increased utilization drives employee holistic health and financial confidence, leading to a more engaged and productive workforce.

“Today’s employers are facing macro challenges – everything from rising healthcare costs and mental health concerns to disengaged workforces,” says Todd Katz, head of Group Benefits at MetLife. “By helping employees thoughtfully choose and use their benefits, MetLife has found that employees are healthier, more productive, and better able to support key business imperatives. It’s only through proactive and personalized experiences that this is possible. Upwise delivers such an experience.”

Here’s how it works: Upwise uses permissioned personalized medical information, financial data, and employee preferences to develop personalized recommendations across a wide array of benefits including health and nonmedical insurance plans offered by an employer. Once employees choose their benefit selections, Upwise’s engagement capability then provides regular nudges to help employees use their benefits during applicable moments throughout the year. According to early results², deployment of benefits decision support during open enrollment period yielded solid double-digit growth in benefits enrollment.

To learn more about how Upwise can increase employee engagement and drive business outcomes, visit metlife.com/business-and-brokers/employee-benefits/upwise. For real-time resources and helpful tips for employees for this year’s open enrollment season visit metlife.com/open-enrollment.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help individual and institutional customers build a more confident future. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets globally and holds leading positions in the United States, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.

MetLife’s 22^nd Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study

Findings are based on a pilot study involving 6,011 users and 6,154 non-users at MetLife conducted during MetLife’s 2023 open enrollment period, which began 11/6/2023 and closed 11/19/2023. Users that did not actively complete an enrollment event during MetLife’s 2023 open enrollment period were excluded from this analysis.