Streamlining Benefits Administration: The Impact of a Modernized Dependent Verification Solution

While employer-sponsored health plans can tap into major savings on healthcare benefit costs, the enrollment of ineligible dependents, such as divorced spouses or children above the age of eligibility, can significantly undermine these financial gains. Research indicates that up to 8% of dependents enrolled are ineligible for coverage, culminating in substantial wasteful spending that can degrade benefit value across the organization.¹

That’s why a dependent eligibility verification audit is a crucial piece of the healthcare cost containment puzzle. By removing ineligible dependents from the plan, HR and benefits administration teams can focus on maximizing benefit offerings for their eligible member population while driving down costs for all involved.

The Need for Modernization

Despite the necessity of health plan dependent verification, traditional audit workflows are cumbersome, requiring highly manual processes that are prone to bottlenecks and errors that only serve to increase employee frustration. As an organization grows, these outdated methods become increasingly inefficient and prone to inaccuracies, putting the onus on HR and benefits professionals to implement process improvements to optimize their eligibility audits.

To cut down on errors and delays, more organizations are turning to streamlined verification solutions to upgrade and simplify the audit experience. Leveraging modern platforms, benefits administration teams can reduce the hassle of conducting these audits while measurably increasing employee engagement.

Four Key Advantages of Modernized Verification

Between the potential for cost savings and opportunities to increase employee satisfaction, audits are the next step to becoming a more competitive and cost-efficient organization. The advantages of modernized verification extend beyond efficiency — optimized audit workflows help HR teams future-proof benefits administration processes in four key ways:

1. Reduce costs: Identifying and removing ineligible dependents with a modernized audit solution can significantly lower costs for a health plan. For example, one of the largest global steel producers providing coverage for 11,000 employees with dependents discovered that more than 1,500 of those dependents were ineligible, generating an estimated $17.3 million in savings in just the first year.

2. Streamline HR workflow: The reduction of manual processes takes the workload off of HR and benefits teams, leveraging technology to provide access to real-time verification. Incorporating Single Sign On (SSO) capabilities removes the technical hassle and streamlines the experience for employers. Moreover, hybrid integration offers a customizable audit solution that can fit within any workflow, driving measurable improvements in efficiency and time-savings for busy HR teams.

3. Safeguard sensitive information: Data security is a growing concern for many employers handling sensitive employee information. A data breach not only has financial repercussions but also damages the organization’s reputation and employee trust. Utilizing technology to conduct eligibility audits provides peace of mind. Leveraging advanced security features such as data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and secure cloud storage ensures maximum protection and compliance with data privacy regulations.

4. Simplify the employee experience: An intuitive, user-friendly interface equipped with SSO makes the audit process as convenient and simple as possible for employees. With a verification solution that goes where the employees are today, audits are just one click away, offering accessible self-service options for employees to submit and track their information. With a secure, mobile-friendly employee web portal and customizable communication, employers can deliver a positive audit experience that improves the employee response rate and satisfaction. 

5. Mitigate risk and optimize resources: Technology-driven verification workflows lower the risk of fraud and errors by implementing robust validation checks and cross-referencing data against authoritative sources. This functionality serves as a safety net for each audit, ensuring the employer receives an accurate report of dependent eligibility status and cost-saving opportunities. Moreover, automating routine tasks associated with dependent verification helps HR professionals prioritize value-added services to improve the overall success of the organization.

Embrace the Future of Benefits Administration 

Investing in modernized and integratable dependent verification services is key to unlocking cost savings and improving health benefit value. For over 20 years, Consova has provided streamlined verification solutions to employers with self-sponsored health plans of all sizes that enhance the employee experience and simplify benefits administration workflows. Learn more about how Consova can help you save time and optimize costs with a fully modernized verification platform.

Sources

1. Mack, M. (June 2015). Controlling Health-Care Costs with Dependent Eligibility Audits. Government Finance Review. https://gfoaorg.cdn.prismic.io/gfoaorg/0c823cab-c8b4-4aa4-82d4-2605b7f6ecbd_615GFR32.pdf