Carrier Connections: Automated Benefits Enrollment

Carrier Connections is an automated method for securely transmitting benefits enrollment data to carriers in an electronic format. This automation eliminates duplicate data entry and the need to prepare and send enrollment reports. Carrier Connections is an additional service for clients subscribed to our Benefits Administration solution. Carrier Connections supports 200+ insurance carriers, including health, dental, vision, life, disability, COBRA, and other types of plan providers.

Customers who choose to establish automated connections with their carriers need to provide the following information about each health insurance plan to APS:

• Benefit provider’s name
• Group number
• Plan year start date
• Open enrollment month
• Number of employees enrolled with the carrier
• Provider’s contact information
• Plan type (e.g., medical, dental, visions, etc.)

Once the automated benefits enrollment connections are established, there are some vital things to understand about the functionality:

Reconciliation of Vendor Billings
While Carrier Connections sends new hire or open enrollment data to carriers, users still need to reconcile all invoices. This reconciliation ensures that the information entered is correct and that the information uploaded and processed by the carrier is accurate.

Enrolling New Employees
When enrolling employees in benefits in APS, employers will need to select the correct enrollment date. The date selected determines the effective date with the carrier, and therefore the billing date. The carrier should enroll and bill correctly as long as the correct billing month is selected when enrolling employees.

Correcting Employee Errors
If an employee elects the wrong plan, employers can manually make the change in APS. The data will then be electronically transmitted to the carrier for updating.

Terminations
Terminated employees and benefits will transmit to the carrier once processed in APS.

There are many advantages to automated benefit enrollment for employers:

• Reduce the chance of errors by using electronic transmission of enrollment and demographic information.
• View benefits administration dashboard analytics for real-time data on enrollment information.
• Reduce the costs associated with terminated or ineligible employees.
• Improve employee self service and satisfaction with a streamlined online benefits enrollment process.
• Avoid missed benefits enrollments with accurate and timely communication to carriers.
• Decrease the workload of human resource administrators so they can focus on more strategic tasks.
• Pull reports on crucial metrics such as employee turnover and benefits plan participation.
• Benefits enrollment information is transmitted securely to protect sensitive and confidential data.

Employees also gain advantages from automated benefit enrollment:

• 24/7 access to benefits enrollment data using our employee self-service mobile app.
• Simplified online benefits enrollment process with step-by-step instructions that answer common questions employees may have.
• Automated notifications of benefits open enrollment status updates and action items.
• Access to company benefits enrollment documents and resources in an employee self-service portal.
• Employees can electronically sign and approve their benefits enrollment information for security and convenience.

With employee benefits enrollment software, you can reduce processing errors, decrease the costs associated with tracking and managing benefits, and facilitate a better employee experience.

APS supports automated benefits enrollment connections with 200+ national and regional health insurance carriers to meet our clients’ needs. We continually expand our carrier connections list. For a detailed list of the carriers, click here.