How to use a PDF editor to organize your 2027 open enrollment documents

Open enrollment is here, and for many of us, that means comparing new health plans, electing our benefits and reading through insurance options. While not the most glamourous task, it's one of the most important decisions we make each year.

And the biggest pain point of it all? Scrolling through document after document, trying to figure out the best options plan for your family. But there's one tool that can do it all, from organizing documents and merging PDFs together to summarizing plan options to help you pick the one that makes the most sense for your household.

Adobe Acrobat is the most efficient way to help make your 2027 benefits selections, and here's a step-by-step guide on how to do it.

Adobe Acrobat

Edit PDFs, merge documents, convert PDFs to Word

and more with Adobe Acrobat.

Edit your documents with Adobe Acrobat

Start with an open enrollment document checklist

Before you start organizing, you'll want to gather all your important open enrollment documents. Your 2027 benefits checklist should include:

• Benefits overview or enrollment guide
• Summary of Benefits and Coverage for each medical plan
• Employee premium or payroll-deduction sheet
• Prescription drug formulary or coverage summary
• Dental and vision plan summaries
• FSA and HSA contribution information
• Dependent-eligibility requirements
• Life and disability insurance documents
• Enrollment instructions and deadlines
• Current plan documents for year-over-year comparison
• Confirmation page or receipt after enrollment

Once you've got all these documents downloaded, you can merge them into one place for easier viewing and comparison.

Create one open enrollment PDF

So that you don't have to hop from tab to tab, Adobe helps you merge all your files into one PDF file. Instead of going back and forth, you can now search a single document for the information you need.

To merge your PDF documents follow these steps:

• Download the official documents from the employer’s benefits portal.
• Rename each file clearly, like "2027-medical-plan-A.pdf"
• Open the Acrobat merge tool.
• Add the files.
• Arrange them in the order they will be reviewed.
• Combine the files and save the new document with a descriptive name.

Organize the pages so the most important information comes first

Sick of endlessly scrolling to get to the information you actually need? With Adobe, you can reorganize the pages and put the most important ones first. I find it much easier to understand my options when all the important information is close together, and Adobe Acrobat helped me do that. In the editor, you can organize PDF pages by dragging and dropping, deleting duplicate pages, or grouping pages by person, such as dependents vs. you.

Make a benefits PDF editable

Need to sign your PDF or make selections online? Adobe has one of the best PDF editors, and it's super easy to use. It's got everything from click-or-tap text edits, page rearranging and image cropping. You can edit from anywhere with full mobile editing via Acrobat Reader app, allowing you to make your benefits selections on the go.

How do I convert an open enrollment PDF to Word?

The biggest pain? Having to sign or type in a PDF, but not having the right tool to do that. Adobe has a simple PDF to Word converter that does it in five easy steps:

1. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat.
2. Select the Export PDF tool.
3. Choose Microsoft Word.
4. Select Word Document.
5. Export and save the file.

More: I used Adobe Firefly for birthday invites and the result was amazing

Use a PDF editor to add notes and correct your working copy

If you want to highlight important dates, add notes in the margin or correct typos, Adobe's online PDF editor makes it simple. All you have to do is:

• Open the file.
• Select Edit PDF.
• Choose the appropriate formatting or object tool.
• Make the change.
• Save the edited version under a new file name.

Summarize lengthy plan documents with AI

One of the most powerful tools Adobe offers is the ability to look at your massive collection of open enrollment paperwork and find the answers you need most, like key plan details and deadlines.

What I find most helpful is to use basic prompts to highlight key information. Some prompts I use, that you might find helpful, are:

• “Summarize the major sections of this benefits guide.”
• “Where does this document discuss dependent eligibility?”
• “List the questions I should verify with HR before enrolling.”
• “Find the enrollment deadline.”
• “Create a table of the plan details stated in this document.” (see below how I used this prompt to compare my plans side-by-side)

Create a simple benefits comparison sheet

Adobe's AI feature can take the benefits information in your enrollment documents and build a table that compares key components side by side. The table below is what I used to compare my open enrollment, and it helped me choose the best plan for my family.

Protect documents containing personal information

Adobe is a safe, and trusted online software, but nothing is 100% secure even if you have top of the line online security. As you edit PDFs, follow your employer's security protocol, use only a personal or employer-approved device, and store your document in a secure location.

When building comparison sheets, don't leave Social Security numbers, birthdates or account information out in the open. Unless it's on a secure website, delete sensitive information from your personal comparison sheets.

Who this workflow is best for

Adobe Acrobat

Edit PDFs, merge documents, convert PDFs to Word and more with Adobe Acrobat.

Edit your documents with Adobe Acrobat

Parsing through open enrollment documents is not only time consuming, but can be confusing. That's why PDF editors and AI PDF summarizing tools are important tools for everyone to use. This open enrollment organization checklist is best for:

• Anyone comparing multiple plans
• Employees adding dependents to their plan
• Small-business owners who want to create enrollment instructions or summaries for employees
• Anyone trying to read through a long benefits guide

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How to use a PDF editor to organize your 2027 open enrollment documents

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