Solutions Set - COBRA ADMINISTRATION
A national, diversified health care organization on the east coast reduced costs and ensured compliance by partnering with Lifetime Benefit Solutions for COBRA administration.
Challenge
The company had an internal COBRA department with 52 employees. It faced three main issues: 1) Their costs were unusually high because their antiquated system required manual processing; 2) There were compliance issues that resulted in fines because the COBRA program was not being administered properly, and 3) They were merging with an affiliate in another state and needed expert help to navigate the challenges of COBRA compliance while reducing administrative and compliance costs.
Solution
At the outset of the partnership, Lifetime Benefit Solutions met with key staff to discuss the challenges and internal capabilities to address them. The staff was impressed with Lifetime Benefit Solutions’ large COBRA client base and the level of sophistication of its system, which includes on-demand web-based reporting and notifications.
Lifetime Benefit Solutions met with representatives from all departments, including Treasury, Sales, Membership, and COBRA, to ensure that any department affected by the transition was involved in the planning process from the start. Lifetime Benefit Solutions then developed custom files that could be shared and coordinated across departments for payment, new hires, and COBRA status of all employees. These files were exchanged electronically on a daily basis. Quarterly electronic audits were also conducted.
Results
- Significantly improved tracking capabilities, which helped achieve and maintain compliance with COBRA rules and regulations.
- Saved an estimated $2.8M per year by dissolving their internal COBRA department and avoided fines and fees that resulted from compliance issues.
- Improved quality in the services they delivered to their customers by replacing an antiquated manual system with automated electronic processes.
The customer was so impressed with Lifetime Benefit Solutions that they renewed their contract early. Hiring Lifetime Benefit Solutions to administer their COBRA was “the best decision we ever made,” said one representative from the company.
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