Perhaps this is just me, but I've noticed that just like the arrival of spring turns many young minds to romance, the arrival of Labor Day turns many minds - young and old - to benefits.

Maybe it's seasonal allergy solutions, summer sporting injuries, barbeque accidents or preparing for open enrollment - but something gets people talking more about medical plans this time of year.

Usually such conversations reveal serious benefits knowledge gaps.

One type of exchange I've heard all too often is where a national medical carrier is described as great or terrible for reasons that have everything to do with their employer and almost nothing to do with the carrier.

I respond to these scenarios by acting as though someone has cried, "Is there a benefits director in the house?" and interject to clarify the basics of health plan design - one stranger at a time.

Not unlike Johnny Appleseed, I'm planting benefits knowledge where I can. Call me Peter Benefits-seed.

The challenge is that like other professions, the benefits game has its own unique vocabulary.

What's particularly tricky about our professional lingo is that consumers have to master and maintain proficiency in our language, and use it at times - the hospital, pharmacy or doctor's office - when we're not present to translate for them.

Maybe we need to develop new benefits-speak that consumers will find easier to digest.

Let's start with plan names.

In my career, I've been asked each of the following three questions at least 10,000 times:

"Is that the one where I can go in and out of network?"

"Is that the one where I have to stay in the network?"

"Is that the one where everything has to go through my primary doctor?"

These questions suggest that names like EPO, HMO and PPO, although ubiquitous today, still suffer from originating within the complex health care industry, as opposed to being consumer-friendly.

However, other terms like "primary care doctor" and "network" seem to have made it safely into the vernacular.

So, let's work with what we've got! How about:

Let's build a new consumer-driven benefits lexicon together.

Don't get me started on nonintuitively named retirement plans, 401(k), 403(b), 457.

Yes, I know they refer to sections of the tax code, but do those names help make retirement savings less intimidating to the consumer?

Peter Benefits-seed thinks not.

Contributing Editor Peter Phelan is an award-winning comedy writer and popular speaker at benefits conferences. He can be contacted through his Web site, www.funnyphelan.com.