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OPEN ENROLLMENT#

Background#

The pre-existing application had an extensive Benefits module that included many Professional and Self Service components; however, the module did not fully support the Open Enrollment process. Previous releases gave Benefit Administrators the tools they needed to set up and administer benefit plans, but it lacked the ability to control Open Enrollment periods and guide employees effectively through the election process.

We now have incorporated Open Enrollment and the following will describe the Open Enrollment process and the setup requirements.

Benefits of Using Open Enrollment#

There are many benefits to using Open Enrollment, here are a few:

• To have employees take more ownership in every aspect of updating and managing their own information.
• To improve employee satisfaction by offering more choices and better service.
• To be able to control Open Enrollment periods.
• To improve turnaround time and productivity.
• To reduce paperwork and manual effort.
• To reduce errors and ensure tax compliance.
• To improve efficiency and reduce costs.
• To improve communications and information flow.

Key Features#

Below is a list of the some of the key features of the Open Enrollment process:

• Handle mass Open Enrollments, ad hoc individual Open Enrollments and life or work event individual Open Enrollments
• Allow employees to make their own elections in accordance with pre-defined rules
• Capture life and work events
• Support all types of benefit plans including flex benefit plans
• Support mutually exclusive plans where a single coverage can be chosen from a set of plans
• Show pre-tax employee, post-tax employee and employer costs
• Show costs by pay period, by month or by year, as requested by employee
• Provide a summary of all costs to employee prior to submitting their elections
• Provide links to external material and web sites
• Communicate actions and events via workflow
• Provide basic audit and exception reports
• Produce employee benefit statements

System Requirements#

Below is a list of requirements / disclaimers for using Open Enrollment:

• The Open Enrollment process depends heavily upon workflow to function smoothly and effortlessly; as a result the Workflow module must be purchased.
• Currently, Internet Explorer and Firefox version 2.0 are the supported browsers for Self Service.
• In the near future other browsers will be supported.
• All of the reports that have been created or updated for the Open Enrollment facility have been written with Windward Reports. You must be properly licensed to use the Windward Reports.
• PAs are not supported on WEECN when using Benefit Open Enrollment.
• A set of sample workflows will be provided with the official release.

Open Enrollment Business Process#

Roles The chart below identifies the roles that are typically involved in the Open Enrollment process: ROLE WHAT DUTIES DO THEY PERFORM? Employer • Establishes benefit plans and eligibility rules • Determines Open Enrollment and benefit mid-year change policies • Provides financing Employee • Makes benefit plan elections during Open Enrollment • Notifies Benefit Administrators of life and work events • Updates dependent/beneficiary data Dependent / Beneficiary (Benefit Recipients) • Named by employees on benefit plans • Not directly involved in the Open Enrollment process Manager • Supervises employees • Not directly involved in the Open Enrollment process Benefits Administrator • Recommends, implements and communicates benefit options • Obtains bids and selects benefit providers • Negotiates benefit plans and rates • Sets up and maintains benefit plans and coverages • Changes benefit rate tables as needed • Turns on Open Enrollment for selected employees and benefit plans Benefit Reviewer / Approver • Provides employee assistance and guidance for the Open Enrollment process • Reviews elections and obtains additional information as needed • Makes changes as necessary to incorrect elections • Approves elections or routes them for additional approval, possibly to Payroll • Updates provider web sites as needed for changes Payroll Administrator / Final Approver • Works with the benefit administrators to set up benefits and ensure accurate and timely deductions • Reviews employee elections and provides final approval for payroll processing • Changes incorrect benefit enrollment records • Cross checks benefit amounts for billing purposes Benefit Provider (Supplier) • Provides insurance coverage and administration for benefit plans • Conducts employee meetings to review benefit plans and options • Not directly involved in the Open Enrollment process Application Administrator • Assists others with the usage of the benefit application software • Performs Web Master duties such as writing HTML and providing links where needed for the web pages • Assists with the definition and setup of new plans • Implements workflows • Provides tailoring of system components as required • Troubleshoots application issues • Tests new features • Implements system security and establishes system access rules Systems Administrator • Provides the hardware and operating system environments • Maintains the Application Servers and the Database Servers • Installs new releases and patches • Troubleshoots technical issues • Performs performance tuning as needed • Ensures that adequate backup and recovery procedures are in place • Assists Application Administrator as required