In continuing the HRIS discussions and blog series, it is time to talk about the most crucial component held within these HRIS systems, the Benefits Administration software.
Administering a benefits program tends to be a daunting task, especially if your organization strives to give employees multiple coverage options at the time of open enrollment. The more lines of coverage offered to employees, the more workload your HR staff is faced with throughout the year.
Benefit Administration systems take the time consuming and error-prone tasks of implementing and managing a benefits program off HR’s plate, allowing them to focus more on activities that advance their HR department & company.
For employees, these benefit administration systems greatly increase satisfaction within the benefits program by expediting the election process, properly educating employees on offered coverages, ability to compare coverages & costs in real time, and by giving employees 24/7/365 access to all benefits information at their fingertips.
Once a company decides to go virtual for open enrollment, there is an array of advantages for both HR staff members and employee participants compared to typical out-of-date benefit processes. When evaluating benefit administration systems, the following benefits and criteria must be met:
- No Enrollment Forms or Dual Entry of Information
A. HR Benefit
- No more collecting or sorting of paper forms, simply pull an enrollment report with the click of a button
- Offer more lines of coverage & increase voluntary offerings without increasing the management workload
B. Employee Benefit
- No stack of paper enrollment forms that require the same demographic information to be entered multiple times
- Elect 20+ lines of coverage for yourself & dependents in a matter of minutes
2. Increase Employee Education
A. HR Benefit
- Include educational videos & documents before employees elect coverages
- Give employees 24/7 access benefit related materials such as SBC’s (summary of benefits and coverage), carrier contacts, benefit videos, benefit guides, find a network provider link, etc.
B. Employee Benefit
- Better understanding of benefit offerings and the value of coverage
- 24/7 access to benefit documents, videos, carrier contacts & helpful links
3. Enrollment Assistance
A. HR Benefit
- Reduce time spent on educating & assisting employees during enrollment
B. Employee Benefit
- Give employees access to virtual or telephonic “enrollers” while making elections
- Enrollers will walk employees through the software registration process & explain all benefits offered in detail, giving employees confidence while electing benefits
4. Cost/ Coverage Breakdown
A. HR Benefit
- Gives employees immediate answers to the most frequently asked questions during enrollment time (i.e., “How much does it cost per pay, and what does it cover?!”)
B. Employee Benefit
- Live cost calculations based on demographic information (age, gender, zip, etc.) & dependents additions to guide elections
- Compare plan coverages side by side. Make the best decision for you and your family!
5. Carrier & Cobra Integrations
A. HR Benefit
- Eliminates workflow process that must take place every time an employee is hired or terminated. Say goodbye to carrier member portals & entering duplicate information!
- Have confidence that all employees are enrolled into elected coverages
B. Employee Benefit
- Have confidence you are enrolled in the coverages you elected
- Receive COBRA coverage continuation information in a timely manner, making sure there are no gaps in coverage
6. Benefits System of Record
A. HR Benefit
- Manipulate election data & extract via Excel in a customized or carrier specific format
- Look up enrollment status for all lines of coverage in one place
B. Employee Benefit
- View enrolled coverages & contributions 24/7/365
7. Automated ACA Filings
A. HR Benefit
- Our system takes information held with system and automatically populates 1094’s / 1095’s
- NO MORE MANUAL FILNGS!!
A proper benefit administration system is a crucial component of your company’s HR department.
There are a lot of benefits administration systems out there, but very few accomplish everything listed above.
At AegisInsure, we have searched the marketplace and evaluated all the benefit administration systems available. We have formed a partnership with what we believe to be the most inclusive software offering on the market for employers with 20-5,000 employees.
Once you decide to implement our system, our implementation team gets to work on building your system out and prepping it for your first virtual open enrollment. These case builds typically take our team 3-10 days depending on the complexity of the build and benefits offered.
We also provide ongoing support throughout the year and at renewal. Every year at the time of renewal, our enrollment team will make sure your system is prepared and ready to go for the open enrollment period, allowing you to focus on what really matters, GROWING YOUR BUSINESS!