One of the most commonly overlooked healthcare costs is that of benefits management itself. Paper-based enrolment forms are frustratingly complicated, prone to errors, and a major drain on HR resources. But thanks to modern benefits solutions, they’re also becoming obsolete.
Putting pen to paper to fill multiple pages of enrolment forms is a painful experience for plan members – especially the younger generation – as well as plan administrators, who have to chase employees down to get their forms back, decipher handwriting, and transfer their information into an administration portal. To say the least, the process isn’t exactly user friendly.
Automating group benefits management means more than just convenience. Virtual group benefits plan administration can reduce costly information errors by up to 30 percent of administration costs, and it saves countless hours sifting through spreadsheets and paper forms. It’s also safer than tangible recordkeeping. In general, virtual plan administration is a proven solution to mitigating many of the risks associated with the handling of sensitive personal data required from group benefits plan members.
Many small to mid-sized Canadian companies still depend on paper enrolment forms for the perceived convenience of familiarity, but there are multiple online platforms available that make the transition to digital administration easy and simple. How to choose one that is right for you can be challenging, but the Group Benefits Experts at People Corporation have you covered with a guide to comparison shopping different offerings. Read on to learn more!
Consider the data security features of various virtual plan administrators. The administrator you select will be a third party to your relationship with your employees, a party with which you will share your employees’ personal (and perhaps sensitive personal data). These details can really matter in terms of privacy protection law in Canada and abroad, especially if you have employees in states like California, which governs the sharing and use of personal data. In general, a virtual plan administrator’s practices can reflect on you, so vetting them is not only important to protecting the rights of your employees, but it’s also crucial to your company’s own compliance concerns.
Before singing a contract with a virtual plan administrator, check to be sure that the employee data you will share with the tech platform will not be used for any other purpose than that of managing the group benefits plan. Investigate how the data you provide to the administrator will be used, as well as where administrator’s revenue comes from. Be wary of any free virtual plan administration platforms – these may seem like a great deal, but they could be firms called “data brokers” who sell personal or sensitive personal information.
It's also important to ensure that all data will be hosted in servers located in Canada and would therefore be protected by Canadian law. Finally, ask for technical data related to the security of the platform, and read through each vendor’s service agreements and privacy policies. Don’t sign away your employees’ data without asking questions and reading through the fine print.
Many group benefits platforms are owned by and potentially biased towards a single group benefits carrier, which means that you’ll need to learn, and train your in-house administrators and plan members on a new portal every time you switch carriers.
This can happen, on average, every three to four years.
Preferably, the platform you choose will be able to work with multiple group benefits carriers, making carrier switches seamless for in-house administration personnel and employees alike. Remember too that the platform you choose should allow your company to retain the group benefits advisor of your choice. Advisors are meant to help you navigate the complexity of the group benefits industry, and your tech partner should help facilitate that process, rather than get in the way.
When you’re comparison-shopping virtual plan administrators, don’t forget about one of the most hectic times of the years for your human resources team: benefits enrolment season! When looking around for an external administrator, remember to ask what they can do for you in terms of virtual benefits enrolment.
Many high-quality virtual plan administrators can provide training to both your human resources personnel and your employees, getting them up to speed on how open enrolment works, what the benefits (and drawbacks) of each of your selected plans shake out to be, and more. At a minimum, virtual plan administrators should be able to offer comprehensive guides for your HR staff regarding best practices for navigating their platform ahead of the enrolment period.
The very best benefits administration firms can offer comprehensive processes that analyze employee data points, such as claim costs and volume, and then make a tailored plan recommendation for each individual participant. The offerings are endless – but you may have to ask about them to find out what’s out there!
Let us help you untangle the market and align you with the right solutions to meet your needs and those of your clients. We have a team of benefits product experts in local markets from coast to coast who are on call to help you find and structure the best solutions for your clients.
From securing quotes on leading TPA solutions to creating custom structured products for your largest clients, our mission is to help simplify the benefits ecosystem for you and your clients. Not sure where to start? Let us help you. Contact People Corporation today to get started.