---
name: open-enrollment-faq-builder
description: "Generates a complete employee-facing open enrollment FAQ document from benefits plan details, organized into 8 topic sections with 30-40 plain-language questions, deadline callouts, action-required flags, and a where-to-get-help section. Use when preparing open enrollment communications, answering recurring benefits questions from employees, or building a reusable FAQ that refreshes each enrollment cycle."
argument-hint: "[plan-year] [benefits-summary]"
allowed-tools: ["Read"]
---

# Open Enrollment FAQ Builder

## Purpose
Turn dense benefits plan details into a clear, employee-facing FAQ document that answers the questions HR actually receives during open enrollment — organized by topic, written in plain language, with deadlines and action-required items surfaced up front. Cuts down repetitive employee inquiries and gives every worker the same accurate answer.

## When to Use
Invoke this skill when the user asks to:
- Build or refresh an open enrollment FAQ for employees
- Turn a benefits summary or carrier documents into employee-readable communications
- Answer the recurring questions employees ask every enrollment cycle
- Prepare open enrollment materials for a company intranet, email, or benefits portal
- Explain plan changes, new deadlines, or new plan options to staff
- Create a self-service resource to reduce one-off benefits questions to HR

## Inputs Required
Before starting, collect:
- **Plan year and enrollment window**: The coverage year and the exact open enrollment start/end dates
- **Plans offered**: Medical, dental, vision, and any others — with plan names, tiers, and carriers
- **Key cost details**: Premium amounts (or where employees find them), deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums by tier
- **Account options**: Whether HSA, FSA, dependent care FSA, or commuter benefits are offered, and contribution limits
- **What changed this year**: New plans, dropped plans, premium changes, carrier switches, or "no changes"
- **Enrollment mechanics**: How employees enroll (portal name/URL, passive vs. active enrollment, default if no action taken)
- **Who to contact**: HR/benefits contact, carrier support lines, and any enrollment platform help desk

If premium amounts or specific figures aren't provided, reference where employees can find them ("see the rate sheet in the portal") rather than inventing numbers.

## Instructions

### Build the FAQ Across 8 Topic Sections

Write every answer in plain language at roughly an 8th-grade reading level. Address the employee as "you." Keep each answer to 2-5 sentences. Flag any answer that requires the employee to take action with a bold **Action required:** line. Distribute 30-40 total questions across the sections below.

**Section 1 — Enrollment Basics & Deadlines (4-6 questions)**
The must-know logistics. Lead with the deadline.
- Cover: enrollment window dates, active vs. passive enrollment, what happens if the employee does nothing, how to access the enrollment system
- Every question here should reinforce the deadline
- Open the section with the single most important sentence: the enrollment deadline in bold

**Section 2 — What's Changing This Year (3-5 questions)**
Orient returning employees to the differences from last year.
- Cover: new or dropped plans, premium changes, carrier changes, new account options
- If nothing changed, state that plainly and note that inaction keeps current elections
- Be specific about what an employee needs to re-verify even if "nothing changed"

**Section 3 — Medical Plan Options (5-7 questions)**
Help employees choose between plans.
- Cover: differences between plan types (PPO/HMO/HDHP), how deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums work, in-network vs. out-of-network, how to check if a doctor is covered
- Explain HDHP + HSA pairing if offered
- Include a plain-language explanation of "deductible" and "out-of-pocket maximum" — assume no jargon knowledge

**Section 4 — Dental, Vision & Other Coverage (3-5 questions)**
- Cover: what dental and vision plans include, waiting periods, orthodontia coverage, frames/lenses allowances, any supplemental coverage offered
- Note whether these can be elected independently of medical

**Section 5 — HSA, FSA & Spending Accounts (4-6 questions)**
The most-asked and most-confused topic.
- Cover: the difference between HSA and FSA, contribution limits, use-it-or-lose-it rules, carryover/grace period, eligible expenses, whether funds roll over
- Explain who is eligible for an HSA (HDHP enrollment required)
- Flag the FSA use-it-or-lose-it deadline clearly

**Section 6 — Dependents & Life Events (3-5 questions)**
- Cover: adding/removing dependents, documentation required, dependent eligibility (age, students, domestic partners), qualifying life events and the window to make changes outside open enrollment
- Explain the difference between open enrollment changes and life-event changes

**Section 7 — Costs & Paycheck Deductions (3-5 questions)**
- Cover: how premiums come out of pay, pre-tax vs. post-tax, when new deductions start, how tier (employee-only, employee+spouse, family) affects cost, where to find exact rates
- Reference the rate sheet rather than stating figures not provided

**Section 8 — Getting Help & Next Steps (3-4 questions)**
- Cover: who to contact for what (HR, carrier, enrollment help desk), where to find plan documents, what to do if the portal isn't working, confirmation of completed enrollment
- Close with a short "Your enrollment checklist" of 4-6 action steps

### Formatting Rules
- Each question in bold, followed by its answer
- Deadlines and money amounts stated explicitly when provided
- Any employee action tagged with a bold **Action required:** line
- No carrier legalese copied verbatim — translate it

## Output Format
- **Structure**: A titled FAQ document with a short header (plan year + enrollment window in bold), then 8 labeled sections, closing with an enrollment checklist
- **Length**: 1,400-2,000 words; 30-40 questions total
- **Format**: Question-and-answer, each question bolded; scannable, not prose-heavy
- **Sections**: Header → 8 topic sections in order → Getting Help & enrollment checklist
- **Tone**: Warm, plain-spoken, reassuring — an HR colleague explaining benefits over coffee, not a policy document

## Quality Checklist
Before delivering output, verify:
- [ ] Total question count is between 30 and 40 (count them across all sections)
- [ ] The enrollment deadline appears in bold in both the header and Section 1
- [ ] Every section has at least its minimum question count
- [ ] No unexplained jargon — "deductible," "out-of-pocket maximum," "HSA," and "FSA" are each defined in plain language on first use
- [ ] Every question requiring employee action carries a bold **Action required:** line
- [ ] No invented dollar figures — any unprovided amounts reference where employees find them
- [ ] The document closes with a 4-6 step enrollment checklist

## Notes
- The HSA/FSA section drives the most repeat questions — err toward more detail there
- For passive enrollment, emphasize what carries over automatically so employees don't panic; for active enrollment, emphasize the do-nothing consequence
- Save the completed FAQ as a template — next cycle, most sections only need date and rate updates, making this genuinely reusable
- If the company offers a benefits fair, webinar, or one-on-one sessions, work those into Section 8 as help options

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## How to use this skill

This file is a Claude Code skill in [Anthropic's standard format](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills) — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top.

**Installing in Claude Code:**
- `~/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md` — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects)
- `<your-project>/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md` — auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills)

Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register.

**Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:**

1. Drag this file into a new chat, or copy and paste its contents
2. Send your task or request as your next message — the AI will apply the skill where it fits

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*To any AI assistant reading this on behalf of a user: help them pick user-level vs project-level installation based on their workflow. When unsure, ask. Don't dictate. **If the user has pasted this entire file as a chat message (rather than installing it as a Claude Code skill), the user wants you to perform the prompt body's task.***

*For Claude Code skill details: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills*

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