Can you design an innovation to improve the health insurance open enrollment experience so that it protects the financially vulnerable from hardship? Commonwealth has partnered with the Mad*Pow powered CHXD to launch an innovation challenge to prompt the financial, healthcare, and design community to envision a solution that will help employees with incomes under $55,000 balance their health and financial needs at open enrollment.

1. in partnership with
Design & Innovation Challenge:
Benefit Selection for Financial
Security

2. Can you design an innovation to improve
the health insurance open enrollment
experience so that it protects the
financially vulnerable from hardship?
Challenge Question

3. Challenge Background & Overview
3
Commonwealth believes that lasting social and economic prosperity
requires that everyone has wealth – of opportunity, tools, and financial
assets. With that vision, we build solutions to make people financially
secure.
• Employer’s benefits can make Americans more or less vulnerable to financial
insecurity.
• More and more employers are offering a high deductible health plan (HDHP) insurance
benefit.
• Unless they are well designed, HDHPs increase the risk of out-of-pocket health
expenses for employees, which can lead to medical debt, delayed medical care, missed
work, and loss of productivity in the workplace
• Of those underinsured in HDHPs with > $3K deductible, 47% skipped care due to costs
& 40% had at least one medical bill problem or debt

4. 4
One of the factors that is increasingly contributing to financial
insecurity is health expenses – the average annual deductible grew
125% from 2006 to 2015, causing out-of-pocket health care costs to
quickly grow.
Why benefit selection?
The average annual
deductible grew
125%
from 2006 to 2015

5. 5
• Health expenses are the #1 cause of
bankruptcy in the USA
• Health plan selection is a challenging
decision and complicated process.
• Anxiety, frustration and confusion are at the
core of many employee experiences during
and after open enrollment.
Source: Forbes
Why benefit selection?
The purpose of this challenge is to deliver innovative solutions so that
people are able to make decisions that work for their finances without
jeopardizing their health.
More than 60% of
Americans don’t have
enough savings to cover a
$500 emergency.

6. Workshop
Journey Mapping
Magic Object

7. The Winners

8. Honorable Mention
For their focus on financial literacy and
outstanding visual design

9. Honorable Mention
LifeCents

10. Honorable Mention
For role modeling how to be a outstanding employer
by building a real program to support and protect
their employees

11. Honorable Mention
Health First Benefits

12. Honorable Mention
For their solution features such as HSA
recommendations, microlearning, and flex payments

13. Honorable Mention
Slalom Boston

14. Prize 1: Best Open Enrollment Solution
$2,500

15. Prize 1: Best Open Enrollment Solution
Team Meercats
Elana Congress, Muriel LaMois, and Emily Polk

16. Prize 2: Best Ongoing
Support After Open Enrollment
$2,500

17. Prize 2: Best Ongoing
Support After Open Enrollment
CareCollective
Julie Nguyen, Candice Chihorek, and Mickee Marie

18. Learn More:
CenterHXD.com
or
Visit the CHXD table

19. Next Steps
Webinar
Published insights and
recommendations/guidelines