Author:
George Bashaw – Atlas Global Benefits
Need to find some savings without cutting something? Pull out your bills and perform an enrollment audit. This blog is part four in a series of simple ways to save money without altering your current benefit design or carrier. Prior posts in this series include Dependent Eligibility Audit, Know Your Claims and Duplication of Coverage.
Secret Four – Enrollment and Billing Audit
I know it’s not very sexy but a sharp eye can find a few bucks with four simple steps.
Step One: Active Employees
Make sure only active employees are on the bill. When an employee leaves make sure they are immediately removed from your plan. If they wish to continue coverage, make sure they are enrolled in COBRA (if applicable).
Step Two: Enrollment Errors
Verify that each person is enrolled in the plan they selected during enrollment and the carrier is billing you correctly. Some plans have more than one medical choice and many plans have various levels of life insurance options where mistakes are easily made.
Step Three: Billing Errors
Once you have determined that everyone is enrolled correctly, make sure you are correctly being charged for every selection. Despite all you hard efforts to renegotiate your insurance rates, you may find out the changes did not make it to the carrier’s billing system, or they were entered incorrectly.
Step Four: International Employees
You may be getting billed for employees who are not covered for thier specific region. It is important that you understand the contractual provisions of all your plans. If you are covering local employees on an international plan, make sure the carrier is aware of their locations and they are included in the plan. I have seen many plans (EAP, long term disability, medical, life, and most importantly war risk) that have country specific coverage exclusions.
I hope you four-step your way into some savings. Please share your thoughts.
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