Benefits Administration - Is Everyone Going Green?

We have been hearing the term 'going green' for years. Whether we are trading in our plastic cups for glassware, taking shorter showers, using our phones to check-in to flights or biking to work instead of driving, going green saves us energy, water and more importantly money. Carriers and brokers are slowly 'going green' as it is becoming a bigger priority to both employers and employees. Given the reality of health care reform, the need is becoming more apparent to groups than it has ever been before. What does going green for the insurance world mean - the elimination of paper and the movement to electronic employee enrollments.

What are the advantages of employer groups moving to online platforms? Benefit summaries, certificates of coverage, marketing materials and employer applications are just a few of the items that are traditionally handed out to employees at initial or annual open enrollment. Printing and handing out these documents is both time and cost consuming. Numerous companies have begun to offer and develop software to manage benefits for employers.  Having an online benefits portal allows employers to post all of their required materials online, giving employees a one stop shop for all their benefit materials.

The biggest advantage of 'going green' is the increased productivity for brokers. Benefit administration sites are creating a place for employers and brokers to access information on all benefits, for all carriers, on one single site. Reaching out to a group to put together a marketing census is a thing of the past, with brokers being able to create their own directly from these systems. System rules also help prevent ineligible employees and dependents from enrolling in plans that are not available to team. More importantly, the efficiencies  these sites help create are allowing brokers to spend more time on developing relationships with their clients, along with providing the client with a benefits tool as a value add on. Both of those help in the long run, when it comes to improving client retention in a market place that is always extremely competitive.

Have you considered 'going green'?