Workers more active in benefits

LINCOLNSHIRE - With U.S. health care and large-scale health reform in the media spotlight, a new analysis by Hewitt Associates, a global human resources consulting and outsourcing company, shows a record percentage of workers took an active role in selecting their health care benefits during open enrollment for the 2010 plan year. Despite being more engaged in the enrollment process, the majority of employees chose to enroll in similar health plans to what they have in the past, Hewitt's analysis showed. The study of 6 million U.S. workers for whom Hewitt managed benefits enrollment in the fall of 2009 revealed the highest number of active enrollees since Hewitt began tracking the data in 2003. Nearly half (45 percent) actively chose their benefits instead of passively defaulting into coverage.