In today’s tech-driven world, consumers are accustomed to receiving immediate responses to their actions and queries. Whether it’s ordering a product or opening a bank account, they expect instant answers and access. Paper forms have become relics of the past, and the expectation is that these now-dated processes evolve to meet the current speed of life. The benefits experience is one such process; employees are no longer willing to wait days or weeks to select and access their benefits.
Insurance carriers have heard this message. Working with human capital management (HCM) providers, they are accelerating the flow of information between the employee, employer, HCM provider, and carrier with new application programming interfaces (APIs). Â
In an environment where benefits are a huge component of the employee experience — as employees look for more flexibility, savings opportunities, development opportunities, childcare assistance, mental wellness assistance and more — APIs can greatly enhance offerings and output.
The value they bring is enhancing the ease of use in three key areas: plan set-up, enrollment and census, and evidence of insurability (EOI). With these new APIs, plan details are populated seamlessly into the employer’s HCM software. Changes in enrollment are then automatically transmitted to the carrier. The EOI is handled directly with the carrier by the employee; there is no longer a need for more paperwork or manual entry. The employer can then easily add benefits to their portfolio. In turn, making it easy for employees to sign up for benefits increases the chances that the employer will get enough enrollments to qualify for rate reductions. The result of these API integrations is a system that makes life easier for the practitioner, the employer and the employee.
Plan Set-up Simplified
Each year, the complex details of insurance plans must be transferred from the carrier’s system into the employer’s HCM system in time for enrollment. This typically involves reading the carrier’s information and setting up the plans manually in the employer’s software. This dual-entry process invariably creates errors resulting in stress and headaches all around. For example, an employee might try to file a claim for insurance and find that because the plan was set up incorrectly, they are not eligible, or an employer might pay incorrect rates. The carrier then has to make changes, and invoices need to be fixed.
APIs can complete this onerous task. When the carrier finishes the plan creation, they push it directly into the employer’s HCM system. This allows the employer to view the details in a familiar environment that they use every day, ensuring it is correct and giving their approval to the insurance company.
If some detail is wrong, the carrier can make changes to the plan and push the updates in real-time to the HCM provider for the employer to review and approve. The only thing left for the practitioner is to set up their company’s deduction codes and their eligibility groups if they are needed. All other information is pre-populated.
See More: What is Human Capital Management (HCM)? Definition, Process, Platforms (tools) with Examples
Enrollment Simplified
Ask an HR practitioner what their least favorite time of the year is, and preparing for the new year’s benefits enrollment period is likely to fall on their list. Juggling all the information that has to go to the carrier at the right time is exasperating. For many employers, this means manually entering the information into their HCM system and then logging into the carrier’s system and manually entering the enrollment details again. Or worse, filling out paper forms. Some companies use EDI files, generating reports with all the changes since the last filing and transmitting those CSV or text files to the carrier. And what if an employee comes on board or has a baby or another benefit-changing life event after open enrollment has closed? Practitioners have to “hold†onto the information until the new plan year information is processed.Â
With APIs, because everything is real-time transaction-based, last week’s changes, next month’s changes, and today’s changes can be sent simultaneously. It’s all effective-dated. Practitioners don’t have to worry if it’s next year’s plan or this year’s plan.
On the employee side, life is easier as well. Once employees sign up, they immediately “exist†in the system. After initial enrollment, for example, they can log into the carrier site immediately and gain access to all the details on what their benefit provides or when they can file a claim for their new critical illness plan. If they want to go ahead and make an appointment with a provider, the member information is already available to the healthcare professional.Â
Evidence of Insurability Simplified
With some benefit offerings, employees may need to go through the EOI process. For example, the employer provides a life insurance policy with a guarantee issue amount of $100K, but the employee wants to increase the policy to $200K. To see if they qualify for that additional coverage, the carrier needs more information. Historically, this process has been manual and slow. At best, HR gives the employee a link to the carrier’s website to complete the questions. At worst, the employee must complete a paper form that is then faxed to the carrier.Â
APIs are now enabling this step to happen during the enrollment workflow. Going back to our example, the employee chooses to increase life insurance coverage. The system indicates that evidence of insurability is required, and the employee is provided with a link directly to the carrier site. The API has already populated the employee’s information in the carrier system, so all the employee needs to do is complete the questions to receive an instantaneous response.Â
Benefits Simplified
We live in a world where immediate response and results are expected. APIs that seamlessly connect employers and carriers can deliver on those expectations. Practitioners and employees can access all aspects of benefits administration with one easy interface. The result is a win-win-win. Employees can make decisions about their benefits and get answers quickly. Carriers get accurate information that they need to serve employers and their employees. The employer doesn’t have to do manual entry or process paper forms. Because it’s easier for employees to make elections, employers can increase qualifying enrollments.
With HCM providers like ADP leveraging industry-standard APIs such as HR Open and LIMRAOpens a new window , APIs can be repurposed and adapted moving forward, helping to propel this transformation of the benefits experience to meet the evolving needs of the changing world of work.
How are you leveraging API integrations to enhance carrier offerings for a better benefits experience? Let us know on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .