Complex Plan Structure
Challenge:
A global leader in the development and manufacture of automotive
safety systems came to BOS for assistance. The company is a conglomeration of many different companies that have merged over the years,
some no longer operating as separate business units. As a result, the company provides a multitude of plans.
It needed a business partner that could organize the information on each plan, establish corrected
databases, organize the groups into the proper accounting structures and administer the benefits
correctly for each population. In addition, the company has a number of collectively bargained groups where
litigation dictated unique administrative processes. Lastly, there were paper files that needed to
be warehoused and made available for pension calculations.
Solution:
BOS established a dedicated team that put a plan in motion to transition
responsibilities. This team catalogued each plan to be administered. Then they
gathered eligibility from the pension database, health care databases and payroll records.
The data was then audited, discrepancies reconciled and a new database assembled. The data
was coded by necessary accounting structures, actuarial liabilities (where different) and
vendor reporting. It was also formatted to meet the specific requirements of the company's data
warehouse vendor.
BOS worked with the company to develop communication materials explaining
the change in administration and notified all active and retired participants of the new
service contacts. In some cases, BOS representatives met at major plant locations to outline
the program and address any participant's questions or concerns. BOS assumed responsibility for
warehousing and manifesting all the paper files that needed to be kept as a result of pension
calculation requirements.
Result:
Today, BOS seamlessly administers all the plans with each former or current population assigned
to separate units. BOS currently operates six different toll-free numbers which
allows each unique group to be answered by its name and affiliation. Due to participant's
concerns being accurately and sensitively addressed, the company receives virtually no phone calls
or other contact from participants, union representatives, relatives or attorneys.
BOS has won
praise from the company's vendors for the accuracy of its data feeds. BOS has also been recognized by
the company's IT department based upon our ability to customize data transfers to meet client and vendor requirements. |
Short Implementation Time
Challenge:
A Tier 1 automotive supplier contacted BOS because its current outsourcing vendor could not effectively handle some of
its most complex union plans. These plans involved extended benefit provisions in the event
of layoff that had to be calculated based on years of service, COBRA coordination and call-back
rights. In addition, each plan (medical, dental, etc.)
had different eligibility waiting periods and different extended benefit provisions. The company was
also facing union grievances over the failure to provide accurate and timely eligibility
management. It needed an organization with the sophistication and flexibility to administer
these complex plans and to implement them in a tight timeframe to meet open enrollment deadlines.
Solution:
BOS immediately established a dedicated team that put a plan in motion to fully transition the
responsibilities. The IT programmers on the team developed custom databases and
revisions to our computer systems to track historical seniority data and perform custom
calculations as to eligibility for each bargaining group. The account managers on the team
met with union representatives to address administration issues and commit to timeframes for
completion that prevented collective bargaining grievances. In a matter of weeks, BOS had
audited and reconciled the databases, produced all the required vendor and internal payroll feeds
and conducted a successful open enrollment. BOS also established protocols with an associated company
to manage call-back situations ensuring that participants had a seamless transfer of
coverage.
Result:
Today, BOS administers all the health and welfare benefit programs for this company. This includes all the hourly
participants involving eighteen different bargaining group plans using paper forms, salaried
participants using a custom website of the company's design, FSA, HRA and HSA administration and
COBRA/HIPAA administration. As part of the basic administration, BOS provides claim advocacy
services, reconciles vendor eligibility and conducts dependent eligibility audits. The growth
of the relationship speaks to BOS's performance on the account and the trust built
based upon excellence in service and a proven track record of meeting commitments made to the company. |
