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Businessolver Committed to New Relationships in Southern California

March 23, 2012 12:56 pm   Industry News

West Des Moines, Iowa – Businessolver, a leading technology partner for benefits, COBRA and associated services for the mid and large markets, is expanding its presence in Southern California with the addition of benefits veteran Brian Reece. Reece will partner with brokers, consultants and employers to manage the enrollment and maintenance of benefits via Businessolver’s single-source platform – Benefitsolver – and its complete line of benefits services.

“I look forward to working directly with the network of brokers and consultants in Southern California,” Reece said. He believes brokers and consultants in California know the value of technology for their clients. “As health care costs continue to rise and organizations look for innovative ways to control cost, the brokers and consultants of Southern California have developed innovative strategies, including the use of benefits technology, to help employers.” Reece knows that the technology and service delivered by Businessolver is the perfect fit for many mid to large market employers.

Businessolver is relying on Reece’s HR technology and actuarial experience to partner with brokers, consultants and employers. “Brian’s track record of partnership with brokers and consultants shows his commitment to helping them build their business and provide significant value to employers,” said Businessolver Vice President of North American Sales, Loren Brockhouse.

Reece has served in benefits technology sales positions at Benefitfocus and A.D.A.M. along with actuarial consulting roles with Mercer HR Consulting and Towers Perrin before joining Businessolver.

About Businessolver

Businessolver is a provider of online benefits administration services and benefit administration outsourcing services. Its web-based platform automates employers’ insurance benefit administration by consolidating multiple insurance carriers into a single platform and customizing the process to meet each employer’s unique enrollment requirements. In addition to Enrollment and Eligibility services, other Businessolver service offerings include: COBRA Administration, Billing and Financial Reporting, Service Center, voluntary enrollment, Eligibility Verification and Fulfillment. For more information about Businessolver please go to www.businessolver.com.

Growing Businessolver to Delight Our Clients

March 21, 2012 3:42 pm   Businessolver Banter, Businessolver Buzz

Businessolver’s motto is “Grow Our Business, Delight Our Clients.” We’re sticking with that plan, adding 10 new employees recently, and we’re delighted to introduce them to you.

Matt Bower says he has never worked for a company that values its employees as highly as Businessolver does. Joining in March as a Client Services Manager, Matt graduated from the University of Dubuque with a degree in flight operations and spent the early part of his career as the primary flight instructor at Exec 1 Aviation in Ankeny. He has also been employed by Holmes Murphy and Marsh. Matt is especially impressed by the Businessolver concept that “delighted employees delight clients.”

Doug Hibbs joined Businessolver March 12 as an Anaylyst. Doug most recently worked at Fiserv as a conversion coordinator. He has also been with Boatmen’s Bank in the roles of merchant processing and credit card representative. “I’m very excited about joining Businessolver and this ‘Client Centric Team’ environment,” Matt said. “I’m anxious to help delight our clients!”

“The genuinely open and honest environment” was what attracted Jeremy Lind to Businessolver, “along with the focus and core value of ‘delighting the client’ rather than just focusing solely on quantity metrics.” Jeremy joined Businessolver in March as an Analyst. Jeremy was the creator and developer of CycloneFanatic.com which became one of the top five most visited websites in the state of Iowa at the time of its sale. He spent eight years at Marsh where he was most recently a senior business analyst on strategic initiatives.

Stacie Mosely, who joined us March 12 as a Client Services Manager, most recently was youth program coordinator for the Waukee YMCA. She holds a BA from Iowa State University in sociology and psychology.  Stacie has also been employed by Great-West Healthcare and Lutheran Social Services.  “I love Businessolver because of the outstanding people and the focused culture and work they produce,” Stacie said during her third week on the job.

Jason Monroe, whose first day at Businessolver was March 12, came from Allscripts, where he was an interfaces project manager. He has also been employed by MediNotes and Mediacom. “The people at Businessolver are genuine and open,” he said, “a true credit to the organization and the culture that has been established.”

Businessolver’s “family” feeling is what Melissa Noble likes about her experience so far. She came to Businessolver as a Client Services Manager in March with six years of experience; the past four years she was with Marsh in the roles of program specialist, account manager and service account manager. She holds a BA in criminology from the University of Northern Iowa. “I’m excited to be here with Businessolver to be a part of an innovative, growing company!”

Diane Pohlmeier, Director of Client Operations, came to Businessolver in March from Marsh where she was VP of Premium Accounting. Diane has earned numerous designations throughout her career and has a passion for personal development and continued learning. Diane is thrilled with the warm welcome she received at Businessolver and looks forward to expanding her knowledge and building relationships with her new colleagues.

“Every day brings new and different challenges,” to new RFP Manager Sarah Sinclair, who joined Businessolver in February. “There are so many opportunities to become more involved in the company.” Sarah graduated from Iowa State University with a BA in advertising and speech communication. She spent three years at Aviva Investors as RFP coordinator. Sarah has also been employed by GeoLearning (now Sum Total); Sunbelt Business Advisors and The Des Moines Register.

The family atmosphere is what attracted Client Services Manager Cheryl White, whose first day was March 12. Cheryl graduated from Drake University with a BS in business administration/ marketing, and most recently worked at Commercial Resources Inc in Centerville. “I am looking forward to the opportunity to get to know employees on both a personal and professional level,” she said.

Are You Misjudging an Employee Magnet?

Benefits Drive Employee LoyaltyFor many organizations, the benefits package may be a forgotten, or at least under-recognized, retention and recruitment tool. According to MetLife’s 10th Annual Study of Employee Benefit Trends, employee loyalty was strongly connected to the benefits package. Employees rated health benefits, retirement benefits, non-medical benefits (like vision, dental and life), and choice of voluntary benefits as significantly more important than their employers believed. Conversely, employers seem to have misplaced employee feelings about advancement opportunities and company culture as the glue that drives loyalty. Check out the numbers in the chart to the left.

What makes those numbers more interesting is the fact that employers’ confidence that health care benefits will be offered at their organization a decade from now continues to decline. According to the 17th Annual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Health Care, only 23 percent of employers feel confident they will be offering health benefits in 2021. Juxtapose that nugget against 66 percent of employees saying health benefits are important to employee loyalty and it looks like we have quite the conundrum on our hands.

Biggest Concern in Benefits: Managing Health Care Costs

March 15, 2012 12:19 pm   Businessolver Banter, Industry News

Hold on to your seat: managing the cost of providing health care to employees is the biggest challenge facing employers in today’s corporate climate. This response was the number one reply from benefits and human resource executives for the fourth straight year according to Deloitte Consulting’s “Top Five Rewards Survey.”

A whopping 75 percent of respondents cited managing health care costs as the top risk and around 85 percent said they expected health care costs to increase over the next five years as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). In addition, 68 percent said they would re-evaluate their benefits strategy to offset PPACA’s impact.

In addition, 68 percent said they would re-evaluate their benefits strategy to offset PPACA’s impact.

The big question is what will employers to to change their benefits strategy? Will they improve their wellness programs to impact behavior? Will they look at voluntary benefit offerings that help employee have more complete coverage?

Whatever the change in strategy, benefits technology like Benefitsolver can have a positive impact. Communication tools offer the ability to drive enrollment to specific plans and help employees better understand the complete benefits package. Advanced integration streamlines enrolling in voluntary plans. A paycheck calculator can help each employee manage the impact to their monthly budget. And it can all be done from a single benefits platform. Contact your Businessolver representative today to find out how benefits technology can help manage the cost of providing health care (and any other benefit!) to employees.

EVENT: NEBGH 1st Annual Health and Wellness Benefits Conference

Northeast Business Group on HealthNortheast Business Group On Health’s 1st Annual Health & Wellness Benefits Conference
30 Years of Innovation: What’s Next for Employers?
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sentry Conference Centers
730 Third Avenue
(between 45th & 46th Streets)
New York, New York 10017

Learn more or register here.

EVENT AGENDA
7:30 a.m. – 8:15 a.m. Continental Breakfast, Registration and Exhibits
8:30 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. Opening Remarks
8:45 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Why Employers Need to Innovate
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Keynote, Innovations in Healthcare Technology: Will Supercomputer Dr. Watson Improve Patient Care?
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Breakout Sessions Part 1
a. Innovations in Health Reform: The Spectrum of Opportunity Between Pay and Play
b. Innovations in Employee Health Management
c. Innovations in Employee Engagement
d. Innovations in Medical Decision Support
Noon – 1:300 p.m. Luncheon, Allowing the Mind to Blossom: Making the Business Case for Transcendental Meditation
1:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Breakout Sessions Part 2
a. Innovations in Stress Management Programs and Building Workforce Resiliency
b. Innovations in Alternative Delivery Models of Care
c. Innovations in Pharmacy Benefit Management: Pharmacy – 2012 and Beyond
d. Innovations in Global Wellness
3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Break
3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Panel Discussion: The Future of Healthcare

States Vary on Exchange Status

March 6, 2012 1:50 pm   Businessolver Banter, Industry News

Among the uncertainty surrounding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), nothing is on shakier ground than state exchanges. A few states have already developed their own exchange or are on their way to doing so, while the majority is still researching or debating legislation related to the establishment of an exchange. Interestingly, a recent piece by Dennis Storey in Benefits Selling pointed out that, “a new Urban Institute/Robert Wood Foundation study reveals that the states taking the most time are the ones with the most to lose – and the most to gain.” The research examines the possible change in employer-sponsored insurance coverage by state as well as their progress toward establishing an exchange.

States struggle with exchanges

Finding Consensus Among Finance and HR: Pay or Play

March 5, 2012 4:14 pm   Businessolver Banter, Industry News

Finding Consensus Among HR and FinanceEmployers across the US are still weighing their options and trying to determine their health benefits strategy based on health care reform.

Towers Watson recently surveyed the two key decision makers within organizations - HR and finance – to see if they were in sync regarding the future strategy. No surprisingly, “impact on costs” was the cited as the most important factor that will affect decisions about health care reform with 82% of HR and 69% of finance respondents indicating the bottom line still takes top bill. But the second highest response was a bit of a surprise. 48% of HR and 30% of finance respondents cited “actions of our industry” as a critical factor. The fact that “actions of our industry” was rated so highly reveals that both finance and HR professionals are definitely concerned with winning the war for talent and the only sustainable difference between competitors. And if that is the case, it will be interesting to see how employers respond to the “pay or play” option when the rubber hits the road in the next few years.

EVENT: 2012 LEHRN HR Technology Expo

February 16, 2012 8:23 am   Businessolver Banter, Industry News

4th Annual Minnesota HR Technology Expo
Presented by LEHRN
Feb. 29, 2012
Brooklyn Center, MN
Earle Brown Heritage Center

Learn more or register here.

EXHIBIT SCHEDULE

7:30 a.m. – 4:15 p.m. EXPO Schedule
9:30 a.m. –3:15 p.m. Exhibition Hall Open
4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Cocktail Reception at Embassy Suites Hotel

Event: Workplace Benefits Renaissance

February 15, 2012 6:11 pm   Businessolver Banter, Businessolver Buzz

Workplace Benefits Renaissance
Feb. 27-29, 2012
Atlantic City, NJ
Trump Taj Mahal

Learn more or register here.

EXHIBIT SCHEDULE

Tuesday, February 28, 2012
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Claim & Medical Bill Audits: New Business For You, Big Savings For Clients
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Key Trends: Voluntary Benefits
9:15 a.m – 10:00 a.m. Hottest Benefit: Defined Contribution Flex Benefits Plans
9:15 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Innovations in Personalized Benefits Communications
10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Welcome & Introduction
10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Keynote Presentation: Forecasting the Future of Health Care Reform and Broker Community Response
11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Keynote Panel: The Role Of The Broker In An Exchange Environment
1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. How To Set Yourself Apart From Your Competition
1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Debit Card Technology: The Key to Success with Consumer Driven Health Plans
2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Payroll Services
2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Viewing Enrollment as a Strategic Advantage
3:30 p.m – 4:15 p.m. Adviser’s Top Five Compliance Challenges
3:30 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. Avatars: They are Finally Ready for Prime Time!
4:15 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Keynote Presentation: Winning the Large Account
5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Opening Wine & Cheese Reception

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Bridging the Gap Between Employer and Employee Perspectives Of Voluntary Benefits
9:15 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Rainmaker Panel: Million Dollar Voluntary Benefits Agencies – How They Do It
10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Keynote Panel: Mergers, Acquisitions, & Strategic Relationship Options
11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Employee Benefit Portals
11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Advanced Concepts In Voluntary Benefits
1:15 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Improve Your Internet Presence: Web, Social Media & Mobile

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