When it comes to managing group health insurance for small businesses, having an easy insurance solution can be huge benefit.
Small business health insurance can be complex, complicated, and time-consuming to find, set up, and manage. And most small business owners and managers are hard-pressed to spare the time and resources to make all that happen.
Fortunately, the help, assistance, and guidance of an experienced and knowledgeable insurance agency can make much of this work far easier and simpler. And, if your broker uses the Ease software solution to manage employee benefits and Human Resources online, the tools can significantly “ease” the process.
What is Ease?
Simply put, Ease is a benefits administration software for small business owners and their employees, which is offered for free by their health insurance broker.
According to the Ease website the software benefits employers by providing for:
- Better Decisions
Ease helps your employees make smarter decisions with copays, coverage, SBCs, and actual costs at their fingertips.
- Faster Enrollments
Employees only enter their information once, are required to complete all fields, and can digitally sign enrollment forms.
- 24/7 Access
Employees can access Ease via web, mobile, or iOS and Android app to view important benefit details year-round.
In addition, your broker can work with you and your HR department or manager, using the Ease solution to track changes to health insurance, as well as a health insurance comparison tool and health insurance shopping tool.
The Ease solution allows you to manage employee health insurance enrollment online and simplifies the entire process. Because it is provided through your broker and is broker supported, that means that your agent can set up, manage, and teach you how to use Ease.
And, if you have any questions, your broker is able to answer them for you.
As we noted here, the complexity of setting up and managing employee health care can lead to delays, errors, and a process that is slow and stressful. Having a trusted and reliable resource to assist with these functions can be immensely valuable for a small business.
This is why, at J. C. Lewis, we make it part of our mission to assist employers with the initial set-up, annual renewal, and management needs of small group health insurance. And the good news is that all of this and more can be professionally and securely managed with the use of Ease.
How Ease Can Simplify Small Business Insurance Management Needs
Ease offers several benefits and advantage to small business employers.
When it comes to enrollment, for example, Ease provides a digital function that maps your employee’s information to the insurance carrier enrollment forms, ensuring that no field is left incomplete. And your employees can even e-sign their forms.
Because employer group plan benefits are often offered with several plan options, plan comparison is important. With Ease, your employees can compare the varying plan details, such as copays and deductibles, in a single view, which can help them make better decisions.
HR departments and HR managers are provided with an Enrollment Progress Dashboard that allows them to email employees about upcoming open enrollment dates and to view a digital “snapshot” of the actual enrollment progress for each employee.
No more paper printouts or benefit information requests to fulfill for employees. With Ease, your and your employees can access individual benefit information any time with the Ease iOS and Android mobile apps.
For your HR department, Ease Onboarding syncs with the benefits data so your employees only have to enter their information one time. In addition, Ease provides HR tools to create and send employment offer letters, to store completed and e-signed W-4 and I-9 forms, as well as direct deposit information.
ACA compliance is critical, and Ease has tools to help your HR managers to stay compliant and avoid possible IRS penalties. By recording and tracking variable hour employees and generating signature-ready IRS forms, Ease helps managers ensure that the coverage you are providing meets IRS affordability guidelines.
While insurance management is the core benefit of Ease, the tools provided include payroll integration.
As the Ease website notes,
“Ease integrates with top tier payroll providers so you can keep benefit deduction and demographic information in sync. Decrease duplicate data entry by setting up new employees in only one system.”
J.C. Lewis Insurance When It Comes to Small Business Health Insurance
Health insurance coverage as a part of employee benefits can be costly, but there are a variety of strategies for keeping those costs at a minimum. Ultimately, however, the more important objective is to provide quality medical protection for your employees, as well as for you and your family.
J.C. Lewis Insurance Services offers a variety of affordable and flexible options that allow small business owners and individuals to choose health insurance coverage options suited to their specific needs.
In addition, we can tailor our recommendations to your particular needs since we are licensed with most major carriers. You save time and money, and we can quickly define your insurance needs and recommend the best products and prices to meet those needs.
We are a family-owned and operated California health insurance agent located in Sonoma County. We are licensed to do business in California and several other states, and we specialize in medical insurance plans for small businesses, as well as for individuals and families and people with Medicare.
