Benefits Renewal Without the Last-Minue Scramble

Blog / Benefits and Insurance,General,Health Insurance,New To PEOs

Understand what you have
Compare your options
Analyze and compare options
Decide and communicate
Check the details

A checklist for small business HR teams

Benefits Renewal Without the Last-Minute Scramble

Use this checklist to prepare for renewal before the new rates arrive. The 90/60/30-day milestones are planning targets, so adjust them to your carrier’s deadlines and your organization’s decision process.

About 90 days before renewal

Understand what you have

Confirm the renewal date, when rates are expected, and the deadlines for making changes.

Gather current plan documents, premiums, employer contributions, enrollment counts, and the most recent renewal.

Calculate what the organization and employees each pay today, including differences by coverage tier.

Review employee questions and complaints from the past year. Look for recurring issues with provider access, prescriptions, deductibles, and claims support.

Ask leadership what matters most this year: managing cost, preserving coverage, offering more choice, reducing HR work, or improving service.

About 60 days before renewal

Compare your options

Review the proposed renewal against the current plan. Identify changes in premiums, deductibles, copays, networks, prescriptions, and employer contributions.

Request the Summary of Benefits and Coverage for each option and use it to compare key features consistently. Plans and insurers provide SBCs at renewal.

Model the cost for employees at different pay levels and coverage tiers, not just the total employer premium.

Consider whether keeping the current plan, changing plans or carriers, or evaluating a PEO would address the goals you set.

If comparing PEOs, look at the total arrangement: benefits, employee contributions, administrative fees, payroll and HR services, workers’ compensation where relevant, contract terms, and who handles employee support.

Check provider networks and prescription coverage before treating a lower premium as a better result.

About 30 days before renewal

Decide and communicate

Confirm the selected plan, employer contribution, enrollment dates, and who will approve the final decision.

Assign owners for carrier or PEO setup, payroll deductions, employee communications, and enrollment support.

Prepare a plain-language summary of what changes, what stays the same, what employees need to do, and by when.

Make current plan documents and SBCs available, and check which notices or updated documents apply to the changes being made.

Confirm that eligibility and enrollment information moves accurately between HR, payroll, and the benefits provider.

After enrollment

Check the details

Reconcile elections with carrier or PEO records and the first payroll deductions.

Give employees a clear contact for ID card, provider, prescription, and claims questions.

Record what took the most time or caused confusion so next year’s renewal starts with better information.

One question to carry through the process

Are we renewing the arrangement because it still fits our employees and budget, or because there wasn’t enough time to evaluate alternatives?

For employers subject to ACA employer shared responsibility rules, include an applicable affordability and reporting review in the process. The IRS says those rules generally apply to employers with 50 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalents, based on the prior year.

If you’d like to find out more about how PEOs can help you provide great benefits and payroll management at less than you are paying now, contact us today for a free consultation.

Lori Frucht

PEO Contracts

Benefits Renewal Without the Last-Minue Scramble

Blog / Benefits and Insurance,General,Health Insurance,New To PEOs

Benefits Renewal Without the Last-Minute Scramble

About 90 days before renewal

Understand what you have

About 60 days before renewal

Compare your options

About 30 days before renewal

Decide and communicate

After enrollment

Check the details

Lori Frucht

Related Posts

Top 5 Mistakes Companies Make When Choosing a PEO

Why It’s Important to Understand (and Negotiate) the Terms of your PEO Contract

5 Tips to Ensure Your Company Is Not Overpaying for a PEO

Subscribe for best practices & industry updates