Ceridian launches Health & Welfare Essentials pilot program
for mid-sized companies
Think large corporations are the only ones that have a need for health and welfare outsourcing? Not anymore. Times are changing, and HR departments at mid-sized companies face the same pressures as those in larger organizations: squeezed HR budgets, escalating health care costs, exploding technology solutions and employees expecting more from their HR departments. These same HR departments need to offer a similar suite of benefit and retirement options as their larger counterparts to attract and retain top leadership and employee talent. As a result, basic business tenets are pushing mid-sized organizations to engage in outsourcing activity.
Consider that 98 percent of firms with over 200 employees offered health benefits in 2005 according to the Kaiser Family Foundation Employer Health Benefits Survey 2005. Outsourcing health and welfare administration is becoming a sound strategic move for a growing number of mid-size businesses as revealed in Hewitt's 2005 HR Outsourcing Trends and Insights. Hewitt reports an expected 13 percent growth in health and welfare administration through the year 2008 and that health and welfare administration is the largest growth area in benefits. While Ceridian serves the large company market with our Health & Welfare Services solution, we recognize that there is also a clear need in the mid-market for a solution to manage multiple carriers and provide benefit flexibility to employers. We have responded to small and mid-size company needs with Health & Welfare Essentials. Currently in a 45-60 day pilot phase, Health & Welfare Essentials is expected to launch in late summer after incorporating feedback from pilot program clients regarding product preferences and enhancements. "The Essentials product was created to meet the demand from the small to mid-sized companies with 350 to 2,000 employees," said Ingrid Lindberg, vice president of Product Management for Ceridian Benefit Services. "The clients were asking for a Web-based tool that the employees could use with a robust administration module at an affordable price. That is what Health & Welfare Essentials encompasses." Mid-market, big solutionsHealth & Welfare Essentials is designed to help companies automate their open enrollment and life event processing to increase the productivity of their HR personnel. The comprehensive solution offers:
- Self-service tools to provide employers and employees with 24/7 access to personalized Web-based benefits information.
- Web-based annual open enrollment from a single database that provides employees and managers real-time access to annual enrollment data.
- Ongoing eligibility and enrollment services with full-service capabilities to accommodate both new hire processing and life events.
- Simultaneous management of open and continuous enrollment activities providing uninterrupted service without a "blackout period."
- Rules-based system that uses clients' unique benefit rules.
- Automatic system upgrades featuring a variety of system enhancements -- many of them based on client feedback -- that are included as part of the Ceridian service.
- Online reporting services including enrollment reporting for payroll providers, third parties and insurance carriers as well as administrator reporting to facilitate employee benefits management, eligibility and life event changes, administrative reporting and other activities online.
- Additional Ceridian benefits including benefits billing, employee knowledgebase, health & wellness, EAP/work-life and advocacy resources, COBRA/HIPAA administration, flexible spending accounts, commuter administration services, and QDRO and medical support order services.
Kim Douglass, Cerdian Benefit Services product manager, said, "I am very excited about the Health & Welfare Essentials solution. It contains all the tools needed to administer benefits. The solution offers an informative online enrollment process for the consumer along with real-time reporting capabilities for the benefits administrator. This allows the benefits administrator to see who has enrolled at any given moment, saving valuable time during the enrollment process."
Be at the forefront of Ceridian's mid-market defining solution when we launch our complete Health & Welfare Essentials offering in August. Contact your Ceridian representative and learn how Health & Welfare Essentials can streamline your company's processes, reduce costs with easy-to-use comprehensive tools and improve your employee benefit experience.
