More than six in 10 American employees say they feel confident their benefits would protect them in a major life event, but only about one in five actually reviews their options carefully each year.
That gap, as documented in new data from MetLife's 2026 Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study, is quietly draining workers' financial security and landing on employers' balance sheets in ways most organizations aren't connecting back to open enrollment.
Jamie Madden, senior vice president of Workforce Engagement and Benefits Connectivity at MetLife in New York, says the data points to a systemic problem that benefits brokers, plan sponsors, and carriers share a responsibility to fix - and that the window to act is every month of the year, not just open enrollment season.
"People enroll in benefits year after year and may assume they have the protection they need without taking a fresh look at whether their coverage still aligns with their life, health, or financial situation," Madden said. "But needs change. Families grow, health needs evolve, and financial priorities shift."
MetLife's research found that half of employees have delayed or avoided medical care because of out-of-pocket costs - a figure that illustrates what happens when workers optimize for premium price during enrollment without fully understanding the coverage tradeoffs downstream.
"Feeling confident in your coverage isn't always the same as understanding exactly how it will work when you need it," Madden said. "When an unexpected illness, injury, or life event occurs, people often develop a deeper understanding of the role their benefits play in supporting both their health and financial well-being."
The implication is that enrollment education that stops at the premium comparison leaves employees exposed and leaves plan sponsors holding the productivity and absenteeism costs that follow.
The pressure on employees to cut benefits costs is measurable. According to MetLife's research, nearly half of US adults have cut or are considering cutting their workplace benefits as costs rise. Among those who later wish they'd chosen differently, 35 percent say they focused too much on monthly cost and not enough on coverage depth.
"The broker's responsibility, and ours as a trusted partner to employers, is to help make benefits easier to understand year-round, not just during open enrollment," she said. "People need support throughout the year so they understand what their benefits do and when they can help."
The mechanism MetLife is using to operationalize that year-round engagement is Upwise, a benefits engagement platform designed to prompt employees throughout the year to explore and connect with benefits relevant to their current life stage - before a crisis forces the issue.
"The more connected people are to their benefits, the more confident they are in choosing the coverage that's right for them," Madden said.
MetLife's study found that 58 percent of employees spent less than an hour choosing their benefits – a figure also shown in other recent research - but Madden pushes back on the instinct to simply slow the process down.
"A good benefits decision isn't about how much time someone spends choosing," she said. "It's about whether they understand what they're protected against and how their choices fit their own needs and circumstances."
The research identified what employees say would help most: side-by-side comparisons, plain-language explanations, out-of-pocket cost estimates, and recommendations tailored to their individual health and financial situation. Personalization, in other words, not just information volume.
According to Madden, 64 percent of Upwise users said the personalized guidance available through the platform made benefits decisions easier - a signal that employees don't need more time with generic materials, they need faster access to guidance that speaks to their specific circumstances.
Forty-three percent of employees wish they'd chosen differently after the fact.
"When employees regret their benefits choices, the impact extends well beyond enrollment," she said. "People who aren't confident in their coverage are more likely to delay care, avoid using benefits, or face unexpected financial strain when they need support most."
The employer-side impact, she said, surfaces as lower productivity, higher absenteeism, and greater financial stress across the workforce - none of which appear as line items on the benefits budget, but all of which carry real cost. MetLife's study reinforces the connection, showing that holistically healthy employees are more productive and take fewer sick days - making the return on investment in benefits engagement measurable, not just intuitive.
For plan sponsors - particularly HR directors and CFOs building the case for benefits investment - this is the data point that reframes open enrollment from an administrative event to a strategic one.
The final question Madden addresses may be the most consequential for the industry: as technology takes over more of the transactional and data-heavy elements of benefits administration, what does the group benefits advisor's value proposition look like in two years?
Her answer is expansive - and optimistic about the broker's role.
"Brokers are trusted strategic partners to employers, and that role will only grow as employers navigate rising health care costs, changing workforce needs, and an increasingly complex benefits landscape," Madden said. "Beyond plan design and renewals, brokers bring market expertise and insights that help employers evaluate their options, shape benefits strategies, and choose solutions that deliver greater value."
Looking toward 2028, she sees technology as a force that liberates the advisor rather than replaces them. As carriers and platforms provide more personalized employee-level support - the kind Upwise is designed to deliver - brokers are freed to concentrate on higher-order conversations: workforce needs analysis, market navigation, and the strategic benefits decisions that require human judgment and trusted relationships.
"The opportunity is for brokers, employers, and carriers to bring their respective strengths together," Madden said. "Brokers providing strategic counsel, employers understanding their workforce, and carriers and benefits providers delivering the solutions, technology, and support that turn benefits strategy into a better employee experience."
That vision of shared accountability between advisor, plan sponsor, and carrier may be the clearest articulation yet of where the industry is heading.
