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Elk REQUEST FOR ACTION <br /> River <br /> TO ITEM NUMBER <br /> Mayor and City Council 8.5 <br /> AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY <br /> General Business September 4, 2012 Lauren Wipper, Human Resource <br /> Representative <br /> ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED By <br /> Online 2013 Flexible Benefits Plan Open Enrollment Cal Portner, City Administrator <br /> REVIEWED BY <br /> ACTION REQUESTED <br /> Authorize staff to contract with Financial Concepts,Inc. (FCI),to utilize Apprize Technology benefit <br /> management software for the city's 2013 Flexible Benefits Plan open enrollment. <br /> BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION <br /> Each year,the city's 115+ benefit-eligible employees have a scheduled two-week period for benefit open <br /> enrollment to update or change healthcare and life insurance benefits for the upcoming year. <br /> The preparation and distribution of benefit materials,including instructions,marketing information,and <br /> enrollment forms,takes considerable staff time. Confidentiality, accuracy, and security are major <br /> concerns when working with benefit enrollment documentation. <br /> After employees make their annual elections and complete enrollment documentation,the forms are <br /> returned to human resources where they are reviewed for calculation errors or inconsistencies from the <br /> previous enrollment year. Typically, further follow-up is required for 20-30% of employees each year. <br /> When all documentation is returned and complete,it is submitted by HR to the insurance carriers. Most, <br /> including health, dental, life, and additional life insurance, require online enrollment by HR. For short- <br /> term and long-term disability, forms are copied and sent to our brokers to maintain. Prior to the first <br /> payroll of the year, HR makes copies of all of the forms and securely sends them to employees. <br /> Electronic enrollment <br /> During our annual benefit review, Financial Concepts, Inc. (FCI) arranged for a demonstration of the <br /> electronic enrollment application they most frequently work with,Apprize Technology. Apprize provides <br /> a secure, easy-to-use and customizable software that manages election calculations, reduces redundancies, <br /> allows for individual employee access to their accounts, saves staff time, and reduces chances of errors. <br /> When open enrollment is closed, enrollment information is electronically sent to the insurance providers. <br /> The software also provides custom reports for payroll deductions. <br /> F 0 W I A E D a r <br /> N:\Public Bodies\City Council\Council RCA\Agenda Packet\09-042012\8.5on1ine enrollment.docx 4A f U R E <br />