Employee Benefit Consultants: Making It Easier
Consulting
Thursday, 01 November 2007
Employee Benefit Consultants: Making It Easier - Health Executive - RedCoat Publishing
This third-party sales and administration consultant company lives by the motto that experts make it easier.
For the past 30 years, Milwaukee, Wisc.-based Employee Benefit Consultants has worked to provide the best in benefits administration. With offices in Iowa, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, and Wisconsin, it’s clear something in the business plan is working out.

The mission of EBC, according to company materials, is to provide “affordable health risk management solutions with freedom of choice.” The wide variety of choices from which employers can choose illustrates the company’s dedication to that mission.

For employers interested in self-funded insurance for their employees, EBC provides administration support with an automated claims system, claims examiners, and customer representatives to handle both dental and medical claims. The company’s integrated COBRA and HIPPA administration system irons out some of the wrinkles employers may find when trying to decipher the complicated rules. EBC’s COBRA services include initial notification, termination notification, and monthly billing. For HIPAA, EBC offers enrollment and restrictions information and certificates of creditable coverage.

Because of the pressure placed on employers and employees to properly manage benefit dollars, EBC also offers flexible spending accounts and health reimbursement accounts, even for self-funded plans. According to company materials, EBC’s spending account administrations enable both employers and employees to manage their accounts and take maximum advantage of existing tax laws.

For employers of all size, EBC offers its comprehensive health management services, EBC Healthier You. In a May press release, EBC president Bruce Flunker said, “Carriers, for the most part, are one-trick ponies when it comes to reducing health costs. In general, employers have been sadly disappointed with the results. We saw many of our clients being forced to pass additional costs on to their employees in the form of higher monthly contributions and deductibles, or in some cases, dropping healthcare coverage for their employees completely.”

To address these issues, the EBC Healthier You program focuses on impacting what the company considers the three parts of the healthcare dollar: healthcare costs, administrative costs, and risk or reinsurance costs. The program’s healthcare advisor division includes a suite of products such as the Hospital Advisor, with which members can evaluate hospitals on clinical quality, experience, and reputation; PharmaAdvisor, a tool allowing members to access objective information about medication options; Physician Advisor, which provides detailed information on physicians; Treatment Cost Advisor, which provides estimates for common services and conditions that impact families; Coverage Advisor, which estimates what services families might need as well as the costs involved; and Healthcare Advisor Search Engine, which links members to other healthcare advisor tools.

Healthier You’s Personal Wellness Advisor program educates members on what they can do to prevent illness and then rewards them for taking steps to lead healthier lives. Members first take an online Health Risk Assessment (HRA), answering questions about diet, medical history, and willingness to change.

After completing the HRA, members are recommended to one or more Health Living programs, which are each six weeks long. The programs cover a variety of topics, including stress management, weight loss, nutrition, and offer other disease fighting programs.

EBC’s Online Wellness Program offers tools supplemental to the Healthy Living Program, including calorie, height, weight, and body mass index calculators. Other aspects of the EBC Healthier You program include a Web-based flexible spending advisor, an online pharmacy, and a population health enhancement to help employers manage chronic cases. According to company materials, the population health enhancement offers an average return on investment of 5% of total plan claims expense.

For employers needing more in-depth tools to handle cost management, EBC offers the EBC Review, which evaluates treatment programs and assesses the need for inpatient hospitalization. The prescription drug program provides retail service programs and mail service programs. On the claims management side, EBC’s PPOs provide discounts for in-network services. Its repricing program handles those services done out of network, and its large claim review service ensures only the appropriate charges are paid. EBC also offers subrogation services.

EBC provides stop-loss insurance, basic group life and AD&D plans, disability insurance, and worksite products such as flexible standalone and supplemental health plans.

“We know that we are in the best position to find solutions for our clients,” said Flunker in a press release. “An individual employer would not be able to purchase these services separately, and they would not have the benefit of the claims data that really allows them to target problem areas and set goals. We’ve put together the best of the best and used our technology and know-how to get optimum results and maximum savings for our clients.”
 
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