With the adoption of the healthcare.gov exchange and the deployment of private exchanges to early adopter companies, buying benefits already has begun to change – for the better.
The Affordable Care Act is responsible for this new adoption along with many benefit technology firms. Carriers have even joined the bandwagon by purchasing or reselling exchange platforms. For small businesses, insurance carriers typically utilize an antiquated broker model that doesn’t necessarily benefit the employer and only offers one or two plans to the employee.
Small businesses with one to 99 employees have been at the mercy of their benefit brokers to choose a plan they think employers need for their employees. But this philosophy tends to lead to low participation rates, thus driving up pricing.
The employer will need to determine how much contribution they want to give their employees and let them shop for a plan that fits their budget.
Employees don’t always want a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Depending on their budget and health needs, employees may choose to save premium and get a high-deductible HSA so they have a plan for major medical expenses. Conversely, an employee with health issues such as diabetes or high cholesterol may want a plan that includes lab and X-ray inside a copay.
The benefits platform of the future will allow the employer to load their own spreadsheet, get a quote and request enrollment without having to pick a single plan. A wide selection of medical, dental and vision plans instantly will be generated based upon the census data with a range of PPO, EPO, HMO and HSA plans.
The employer will need to determine how much contribution they want to give their employees and let them shop for a plan that fits their budget. This platform also will have coaching and communications tools to help guide the employee to the best plan.
In addition, the platform also must be used as an administration tool to help with new hires, terminations and life events such as newborns.
Compliance issues with the Department of Labor also demand notifications to the employee about the public exchange (healthcare.gov), HIPPA and COBRA, just to name a few. This platform also will contain the federally mandated ERISA notifications.
And did I mention that this platform should also integrate with QuickBooks? Given that QuickBooks is the default small business accounting and payroll platform, wouldn’t it be nice to have single sign-on between these two platforms and sync employee data to enroll them without having to manually enter data or upload a spreadsheet?
Today, many accounting firms do more than tax returns. They handle small business inventory, check writing and process payroll. These functions are typically done via QuickBooks. Having the integration between the accounting systems and benefits would allow the accountant, if authorized, to view eligibility information, track part-time versus full-time status, and incorporate the payroll deductions directly into QuickBooks.
This integration should be managed by the Intuit Apps.com market where all third-party products integrate directly to QuickBooks Online.
Most employers still are at the stage where the airlines industry was during the early '90s. If you wanted to travel, you called the airline or travel agent on the phone and they gave you a few options. Airlines have come a long way with their technology, and it's time the health benefits insurance market does the same.
Where will employers, benefits brokers and technology platform be there in 2018? Stay tuned.
John Pask is the co-founder and managing member of GoBenefits, a national broker and cloud-based technology platform. GoBenefits is currently available in California, Texas and Illinois.