Employee benefit plans provide valuable protections and advantages to an organization’s employees. However, administering these plans requires expertise and diligent oversight.
Now we will explore what is involved in employee benefit plan administration and examine best practices for organizations looking to optimize their programs.
What Is the Administration of Benefits?
Employee benefit plan administration refers to the processes and systems involved in managing and maintaining an organization’s various benefits programs.
Effective benefits administration is crucial for organizations to deliver promised protections, contain costs, ensure compliance, and foster positive employee relations.
Basics of Employee Benefits Administration
Administering employee benefit plans may appear highly complex, but the duties can be categorized into four basic areas:
- Enrollment & Eligibility
- Claims Management
- Compliance & Reporting
- Financial Management
Let’s explore the essential activities within each core function:
Enrollment & Eligibility
- Determining eligibility for each benefit plan based on stipulated requirements.
- Communicating plan details to employees and promoting enrollment.
- Registering employees and dependents in applicable benefit plans.
- Collecting completed enrollment forms, evidence of insurability, and waivers.
- Confirming eligibility status for new applicants before enrollment.
- Removing personnel and dependents who lose eligibility during the plan year.
- Managing status changes like new dependents, marital status, and termination.
- Maintaining organized records on enrollments, status changes, waivers, and terminations.
Proper enrollment and eligibility management ensures that only entitled personnel can access benefits. Diligent administration also prevents fraudulent claims.
Claims Management
- Adjudicating claims by analyzing paperwork/info submitted for reimbursement approval.
- Approving valid claims that satisfy stipulations of the plans.
- Denying ineligible claims that don’t meet plan requirements.
- Ensuring timeline compliance for claims decision notifications.
- Resolving any appeals, issues or disputes resulting from claim denials.
- Making claim reimbursement payments to employees or service providers.
- Detecting and investigating potential fraudulent claims.
- Maintaining detailed records on claims received, approvals/denials, and payments.
- Managing overall utilization of each benefit program.
Robust claims management procedures ensure the correct beneficiaries receive the reimbursements they are entitled to promptly.
Compliance & Reporting
- Complying with all federal/provincial legislation applicable to each benefit plan.
- Adhering to Canada Revenue Agency rules to maintain tax-exempt status.
- The following stipulations and provisions are detailed in official plan documents.
- Interpreting rules, laws and plan specs to administer plans on a day-to-day basis correctly.
- Modifying in-force plans as needed and allowed to comply with legal/regulatory changes.
- Creating and distributing mandatory notices and disclosures on plans to employees.
- Filing required reports with federal/provincial regulators (if applicable).
- Reporting to senior management/HR on plan enrollment, costs, claims and other metrics.
Strict governance and compliance help avoid legality issues and potential lawsuits while optimizing plans.
Financial Management
- Collecting employee and employer contributions/premiums for benefit plans.
- Process invoices from vendors and pay within terms.
- Reconciling accounts related to contributions, claims and expenses.
- Paying claims reimbursements to employees or providers.
- Depositing employee pre-tax deductions for flexible spending accounts (if offered).
- Managing investments associated with health savings accounts (if offered).
- Monitoring plans to ensure premiums sufficiently support benefit usage and liabilities.
- Containing costs by enforcing plan provisions and monitoring claims patterns.
- Negotiating pricing and plan changes during annual renewals.
- Selecting and contracting with brokers, carriers, vendors and external administrators.
Robust financial oversight maintains the viability of plans over the long-term by optimizing value relative to costs.
Best Practices for Benefit Plan Administrators
Maintaining a smooth administration of employee benefit plans involves adhering to certain best practices and protocols:
- Have organized written procedures for key processes like enrollment, status changes, claim submissions, etc.
- Maintain detailed records on enrollments, coverage levels, eligibility status changes, claims, etc.
- Promote benefits to employees via multiple channels and encourage proper engagement.
- Communicate plan changes timely to personnel and external stakeholders like vendors.
- Issue mandatory plan disclosures and notices to employees as legally required.
- Comply precisely with all plan rules and legal/regulatory requirements.
- Securely store sensitive health information adhering to privacy legislation.
- Tap technology to optimize efficiency in administration activities where applicable.
- Take a proactive approach in answering employee questions and resolving any issues.
- Implement robust processes, checks and audits to mitigate the risk of errors and fraudulent claims.
- Analyze claims data, feedback and benchmarks to identify opportunities to enhance plans.
- Implement tools to predict and manage costs, such as enrollee risk profiles.
- Partner with expert insurers, advisors and third-party administrators for support.
A strategic, efficient and diligent approach to benefits administration fosters positive employee relations and maximizes the value derived from investments in benefit plans.
Common Challenges in Employee Benefits Administration
Even experienced benefits administrators encounter certain recurring obstacles, such as:
Data Management Difficulties
Disorganized records on enrollments, eligibility, and claims make reporting troublesome and increase operational risks. Lacking integration between disparate systems also hinders practical data usage.
Poor Employee Engagement
Personnel not adequately informed about their benefits lead to underutilization and missed opportunities, reducing the return on the employer’s investment.
Compliance Failures
Non-adherence to regulations or plan documents prompts legal/financial liabilities. Audits also need better compliance.
Inefficient Claims Processing
Manual, disjointed claims processes lead to reimbursement delays, frequent errors, and dissatisfaction. Excessive inquiries also overwhelm administrators.
Technology Gaps
Outdated systems or lack of automation hamper workflows, decision-making, and data-based insights. Difficulty managing different vendor platforms also arises.
Insurer/Vendor Issues
Suboptimal relationships with key benefit partners like carriers, TPAs and advisors directly undermine the administration and strategic objectives.
Renewal Challenges
Lacking data, benchmarks and procedures to make informed decisions during renewals leads to uncontrolled cost increases and outdated plans.
Tips to Overcoming Administrative Obstacles
Here are some tips organizations can follow to overcome common administrative obstacles:
- Invest in robust HRIS systems to seamlessly track eligibility and enrollments and manage claims data.
- Equip administrators with tools like online dashboards to simplify reporting, monitoring and analysis.
- Implement specialized benefit administration technology appropriate for the organization’s size.
- Streamline workflows by reducing manual tasks, paper and data re-entry.
- Digitize records via document management systems with automated indexing and prompts.
- Train administrators extensively on proper protocols and provide resources like quick reference guides.
- Centralize vendor management under dedicated teams to deepen partnerships.
- Conduct periodic claims audits and satisfaction surveys to identify issues early.
- Develop cost management protocols based on insights from claims data, employee feedback and external benchmarks.
- Foster employee appreciation of benefits via multi-channel promotion and tools like total rewards statements.
- Document detailed procedures for critical tasks to ensure consistency.
While outsourcing relieves administrative burdens, but oversight is still required to optimize program. Adhering to best practices while leveraging the latest benefit administration solutions can empower in-house teams to excel.
The bottom line
Effective administration is fundamental for organizations to optimize return on their investment in employee benefits. Administrators can overcome common obstacles and harness emerging trends by following best practices and embracing solutions that amplify capabilities.
With proper oversight and diligent execution, companies can provide rewarding benefits while containing costs and mitigating risks.