Should I hire someone to manage my benefits?

The challenge with putting a benefits plan together is twofold.

First: Do you have anyone that can devote the necessary time and effort into crafting the proper plan?

Second: Do you have someone that can devote the necessary time to maintain that plan and is that the most cost effective option?

Let me answer the first question, many times CFO’s, CEO’s, and HR people are busy handling multiple problems and don’t have the time necessary to craft the right plan.

With an ever changing landscape of challenges, is your plan current?

"Have there been changes to the census (new employees, new families etc)?", "Have there been coverage changes (Benefit Changes, Deductible Changes)?" or "Has a provider changed (HIP & GHI have become Emblem in NY)?"

These are just a few of the questions that need to be asked, but with proper leg work can be answered.

The more complex questions become “how many plans do we offer?”, “Do we offer voluntary benefits?”, “How often do we review our claims history?”, “Are we compliant with ERISA?”.

This is why its so important to outsource your benefits to someone qualified that can devote the necessary time, that ONLY focuses on employee benefits.

This ties right into the second question, do you have someone who can service and maintain your benefits?

This usually falls into two categories, for larger companies a Human Resources Person and for smaller companies an office manager.

A Human Resources Person is more equipped to handle any situations that might arise but as companies get larger, the question becomes “Do we have sufficient HR Representatives handle the activity?” and "Who can they turn to if they have a problem?"

The challenge that office managers face, is they have multiple responsibilities, so benefits are typically not a priority. This can create a “fend for yourself” environment which breeds resentment by employees, where problems aren’t addressed fast enough and employees have to figure things out on their own.

Either way both situations aren’t ideal, this is why it’s valuable to have a benefits company not just handling your plan implementation but also your maintenance.

This way the office manager can manage the office!

If you have any questions you can always reach me at 631-338-9917.

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