8.5. SR 09-04-2012 Elk REQUEST FOR ACTION
River
TO ITEM NUMBER
Mayor and City Council 8.5
AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY
General Business September 4, 2012 Lauren Wipper, Human Resource
Representative
ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED By
Online 2013 Flexible Benefits Plan Open Enrollment Cal Portner, City Administrator
REVIEWED BY
ACTION REQUESTED
Authorize staff to contract with Financial Concepts,Inc. (FCI),to utilize Apprize Technology benefit
management software for the city's 2013 Flexible Benefits Plan open enrollment.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
Each year,the city's 115+ benefit-eligible employees have a scheduled two-week period for benefit open
enrollment to update or change healthcare and life insurance benefits for the upcoming year.
The preparation and distribution of benefit materials,including instructions,marketing information,and
enrollment forms,takes considerable staff time. Confidentiality, accuracy, and security are major
concerns when working with benefit enrollment documentation.
After employees make their annual elections and complete enrollment documentation,the forms are
returned to human resources where they are reviewed for calculation errors or inconsistencies from the
previous enrollment year. Typically, further follow-up is required for 20-30% of employees each year.
When all documentation is returned and complete,it is submitted by HR to the insurance carriers. Most,
including health, dental, life, and additional life insurance, require online enrollment by HR. For short-
term and long-term disability, forms are copied and sent to our brokers to maintain. Prior to the first
payroll of the year, HR makes copies of all of the forms and securely sends them to employees.
Electronic enrollment
During our annual benefit review, Financial Concepts, Inc. (FCI) arranged for a demonstration of the
electronic enrollment application they most frequently work with,Apprize Technology. Apprize provides
a secure, easy-to-use and customizable software that manages election calculations, reduces redundancies,
allows for individual employee access to their accounts, saves staff time, and reduces chances of errors.
When open enrollment is closed, enrollment information is electronically sent to the insurance providers.
The software also provides custom reports for payroll deductions.
F 0 W I A E D a r
N:\Public Bodies\City Council\Council RCA\Agenda Packet\09-042012\8.5on1ine enrollment.docx 4A f U R E
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The cost for 2013 Open Enrollment is $2,000,which is the minimum fee for employers with 200 or
fewer employees. The city would recognize a cost savings for paper, copier use, as well as more efficient
use of HR staff time and employee enrollment time.
The current HR budget could accommodate the software services. The Professional Services line item
has funds allocated for training. We have utilized some free training from Optum this year instead of
contracting for service, as anticipated.
ATTACHMENTS
• Apprize Technology Fee Schedule
• Apprize Technology Brochure
Action Motion by Second by Vote
Follow Up
N:\Public Bodies\City Council\Council RCA\Agenda Packet\09-04-2012\8.5online enrollment.docx
Fee Schedule Open Enrollment
Qty Unit Cost Total
Open Enrollment Only Fee
Annual Enrollment Fee (per employee per enrollment) 120 Flat $2,000.00
Minimum fee of$2,000
Proposed fees are guaranteed for 60 days from issue of proposal.
appr ze
Ct- NOLOGY
Q) WHYONLINE
BENEFITS MANAGEMENT
It's simple. Online benefits management is a better way.
THE RESULT
Dramatic cost savings due to significant increases in accuracy and dramatic reduction in time.
THE BENEFITS
•Save employees time and frustration with the intuitive, easy to use enrollment process.
•Increase HR staff productivity by eliminating excess paperwork.
•Boost profitability by cutting expenses.
•Eliminate hassles and extra workload to HR staff.
SECURE
Our system utilizes strict security protocols to protect the privacy of your personal information.
Our security features are the same features used in online banking and credit card systems.
•Complex system of fully-redundant firewalls.
•State of the art 128-bit encryption technology.
•Physical level data protection.
•Database software automatically records changes and user access.
• Unique employee passwords.
•Security hierarchy for managers and administrative users.
SIMPLE
We can work with you to transition easily to an online enrollment platform.
•For data in a spreadsheet or database format, we offer easy uploads directly into system.
"Companies that have •For data contained in paper files, we'll help you determine how to best handle electronically.
implemented employee ADAPTABLE
self-service and online Our flexible system can interface with any insurance carrier or client system.
• Transmission with any carrier through a combination of EDI and enrollment service bureau.
benefit administration are •Optional interfaces with your payroll or HRIS system.
seeing an 80% •Ever growing vendor list for new interfaces.
improvement in data IDEAL
Compare us with other vendors. We offer the most competitive fees and comprehensive
timeliness, 74% services. Our clients report dramatic cost savings by:
improvement in data •Increasing employee productivity.
•Reducing administrative time and costs.
accuracy and a 60% •Reducing billing errors.
reduction in HR •Eliminating the cost of printing paper enrollment materials.
workload."
-Towers Perrin
How much could you be saving? Let's do a complete ROI
�1 analysis and find out.
ap p r L z e Quick and easy set up. You can be up and running in as little as 30 days. If you are ready to
A BETTER WAY streamline your benefit enrollment process, contact us today.
apprizetechnology.com
952-746-3725
appr ze
A BETTER WAY
A WHY ONLINE
BENEFITS MANAGEMENT
FIND OUT MORE 952-746-3725
952-746-3725
1660 South Highway 100 Suite 436
St.Louis Park,MN 55416
aBETTERway@apprizet--chnology.com