Changes to Benefit Plan Settings in Benefits Administration
Purpose: This guide will explain the changes in the benefit plan setup using Benefits Administration, such as new fields in addition to the basic setup of benefit plans in Benefits Tracking.
Table of Contents
Plan Details
Need to set up an age-banded medical plan? With our age-banded rate calculator, employees will be able to view age-banded rates during enrollment, and you will have those rates auto-populated on the approval page when reviewing your employees' benefit elections. Click here to learn more!
Based on the plan type you select, required fields will vary. The image above is an example of a medical benefit plan, which includes the following required (as indicated by an asterisk) fields and additional fields you can fill out if needed:
- Plan Name
- Carrier*: Click here to learn how to add a carrier within the benefit plan setup.
- Group Number
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Plan Type
- The Group Number and Plan Type ID fields tie an employee to specific plans under their insurance carriers and will appear in the Enrollment Window Election Summary report. In BambooHR, each carrier can only have one group number. If a carrier has multiple group numbers, you can use the Plan Type ID field to add a distinction between the different plans under that specific carrier. Work with your broker to find the group number in your account structure document.
- Plan Type ID
- Summary
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Description
- Adding a summary and description will help your employees understand their benefit plan options and identify the difference between plans in costs and coverages when electing benefits. The Summary field has a 50-character limit. You add more detail in the Description field, but employees will only be able to see the first four rows of the Summary field when electing their benefits.
- Plan Starts*
- Plan Ends*
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Attachments
- Main Plan URL: You can add a link in the Main Plan URL field. The link in the Main Plan URL field will appear on the employee's Benefits tab if they are enrolled in the plan. If you want to add more links to the plan, click +Add Another Link and provide a link display name.
- Link: During the enrollment experience, an employee will be able to click on any additional links within a plan card to view more details.
- Link Display Name
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Attached Files: You can also attach files to a benefit plan. Your employees will be able to view and download file attachments only during the enrollment experience. The following are supported file types: PDF, DOC, DOCX, BMP, XLS, XLSX, CSV, TXT, JPG, JPEG, TIF, RTF, TIFF, GIF, PNG, and ZIP.
- Please note that employees will not be able to access any file attachments after they submit their benefit elections. If they still need access, you can upload the files to a new folder on the Files tab and then share the folder with your employees so that they are able to view the files at any time.
ACA Tracking: If you have enabled ACA tracking in your account, there will be another section within this step to specify if the plan meets the minimum value standard and qualifies as minimum essential coverage.
Tracking beneficiary information is not currently available in BambooHR. We recommend reviewing our Product Updates page to stay up-to-date with the latest changes in Benefits Administration.
Using BambooHR® Payroll? The Changes to Benefits with Payroll help guide has more information on how to add, duplicate, or delete a benefit plan when using Payroll.
To set up a new carrier while creating a plan, click on the dropdown menu for that field and click + Add Carrier. You are required to fill out the carrier name and their Employer Identification Number (EIN).
Note that you may qualify for a carrier connection based on the information you input. If you do not, you can still add the carrier. Please visit our Carrier Connections help guide for more information. After you click Save, the Carrier field will not be editable, but you can edit and manage your carrier information on the Carriers tab in Settings > Benefits.
Coverage Options
There are four standardized coverage options to choose from for each plan when using Benefits Administration:
- Employee
- Employee + Spouse
- Employee + Children
- Employee + Family
Mark the box next to the coverage levels you wish to include. Your selection(s) will help filter which dependents are available for coverage as the employee chooses their enrollment plans. You may notice fewer coverage options from what is available in Benefits Tracking. The previous Benefits Tracking options will fall under the new coverage levels. Click here to view how to correct unsupported coverage options during the transition to Benefits Administration.
| Benefits Tracking | Benefits Administration |
|---|---|
| Employee + Child | Employee + Children |
| Two Party | Employee + Spouse Employee + Children Employee + Family |
| Family Only | Not available |
| Custom coverage options | Not available |
After determining coverage options, you will need to choose how monthly premiums are calculated. The options to select from are Standard/Composite Rate and Variable Rate. For some benefit plan types, Age-Banded Rate will appear as a rate option in the list.
If you have variable rate plans without coverage levels, these plans appear grayed-out when you create a new enrollment window. To make the plans selectable, you will need to define coverage levels for the plans.
Please keep in mind the following coverage limitations.
- Benefits Tracking allows custom coverage options, but adding custom coverage options is not available in Benefits Administration.
- You cannot add defined coverage options to "Other" benefit plan types.
- Currently, the system calculates age-banded rates for medical, voluntary life, voluntary life and AD&D, and disability plans.
- The system does not predetermine standard costs for variable rate and "Other" plan types. The only exception to this is if you set up a rate calculator for standard rate disability plans or voluntary AD&D plans.
- ACA and Cobra reporting is not currently available in BambooHR.
If you are moving over to Benefits Administration from Benefits Tracking, you may notice an error in coverage options for a specific benefit plan. Hover your cursor over the link to learn more about correcting your coverage options in Benefits Administration.
Click on the specific benefit plan and navigate to the Coverage Options step. In this step, review the employees who are enrolled in an unsupported coverage option. Then, update your coverage options. Once you complete your edits, you can use the bulk enrollment tool to enroll your employees in the supported coverage options.
If a benefit plan in Benefits Tracking had only coverage options not supported in Benefits Administration, you will need to edit the benefit plan to select new, supported coverage options.
The Unsupported Coverage Levels message will also show on the employee profile (Benefits tab) and in the bulk enrollment tool.
Eligibility and Cost
This step allows you to specify who will become eligible and when. You will also have the option to specify employee versus company pay amounts and create specific eligibility groups. Do you have multiple full-time employee groups that receive the same coverage but at different costs? You can set that up here.
Click here for more information on setting up eligibility and cost information.
Class codes in the Eligibility and Cost step helps you define employment class codes that match the class codes found in your carrier's account structure for underwriting, pricing and cost calculations. When adding class codes in BambooHR, you will have a standardized data structure that identifies the benefit plans only available to specific classes of employees.
When setting up an eligibility group (Group 1, Group 2, etc.), enter the employee class name, class code, and then add a class description.
You can refine the eligibility criteria for an eligibility group by selecting job titles (either one job title or multiple job titles) that meet the class code distinction. Click +Add Filters and then select Job Title. Select the applicable job titles and save your selections.
Those settings will help you offer your employees the correct benefit plans they can choose to enroll in (e.g., employer-paid disability or life insurance plans can have different coverage options by employment class).
Please keep in mind that Benefits Administration reports and the PDF Form Builder do not currently reflect class codes.
Enrollment Details
Some carriers require information about the employees and their dependents. This step allows you to select the common questions carriers ask based on who is covered. These questions will then appear for the employee to answer in the first few steps of the enrollment experience.
You have an option to include legal information about the plan. If you choose Yes, a text box will appear for you to add details. The maximum number of characters for the text box is 50,000. If the employee elects the plan, they will be able view and acknowledge the legal information during their enrollment experience.
Payroll Deduction
This step asks you to specify the deduction frequency, which is similar to the regular Benefits Tracking experience. If deductions skip paychecks, select No and update the frequency for each pay schedule. If you are using BambooHR Payroll, you will need to answer a few additional questions about deductions.
This is the last step of setting up your benefit plan in Benefits Administration. You will have the option to click Save & Finish Later (to save a draft) or Finish & Save Plan (if your plan setup is complete).
After you approve an employee's benefit elections, they will be able to view plan details on the Benefits tab for the plans they have enrolled in.
Did you know that specific plan types can have rates automatically calculated during benefits enrollment?
When setting up a life insurance plan in Benefits Administration, you will need to fill out some required fields in the Plan Details step.
- Plan Type: Specify the plan type as either basic life insurance (Basic) or voluntary life insurance (Voluntary).
- Life/AD&D: Options include Life, AD&D, and Both Life & AD&D.
Keep in mind once you finalize plan settings, those two fields will not be editable as this helps make sure you have the correct enrollment data sent to your carriers. The following are some exceptions to this:
- If duplicating the plan, both fields are editable.
- If creating a new, revised version for a new plan year, only the Life/AD&D field is editable.
For existing life insurance plans: The Plan Type field will default to the equivalent of your original selection (e.g., Basic Life Insurance > Basic). The Life/AD&D field will remain blank until you choose to edit the plan.
If you choose Basic, determine if you would like to automatically enroll your employees in the basic life insurance plan.* If you select Yes, select whether or not the employee can waive plan coverage.
*This question will also be required for disability plans.
- Coverage options: If your basic life insurance plan covers dependents in addition to the employee, choose the applicable coverage options from the list (i.e., Spouse or Domestic Partner and/or Children).
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Coverage amounts: In this section, you will need to choose the coverage type (Fixed Amount, Salary-Based, or Other) and then input the amounts of life insurance coverage employees and their dependents will receive.
- Fixed Amount: This will bring up currency fields where you can enter set amounts for the employee, spouse or domestic partner (if included), and child (if included).
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Salary-Based: Selecting Salary-Based will show different settings based on the coverage options included in the plan. See below.
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Employee
- # x employee's salary: The amount will be based on what the employee's annual salary will be as of the effective date of the enrollment. The system will assume a 40-hour work week when calculating salary for hourly employees.
- Minimum amount and maximum amount: The maximum amount is required. If the minimum amount does not have a value entered, it will default to $0. If an employee does not have pay information listed on their profile, their coverage amount will default to the minimum amount.
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Spouse or Domestic Partner
- Percentage of employee's coverage or fixed amount
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Per Child
- Fixed amount
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Employee
- Other: Coverage amounts will default to $0 if you choose this coverage type. You will need to enter the correct amounts (or waive the plan) when approving your employees' benefit elections.
If an employee elects a basic life insurance plan, the coverage amounts will show within the Selected Coverage Level column on the admin approval page. Once you verify the amounts, input the Company Pays amount. The Employee Pays amount will default to $0, but you can edit the amount.
Coverage amounts for basic life insurance plans will show in the Enrollment Window Election Summary report, PDF forms, and will sync to carriers through carrier connections.
Important notes about basic life insurance plans in BambooHR:
- The system does not calculate coverage amounts outside of an enrollment window, and coverage amounts are not editable in the bulk enrollment tool and on the employee profile.
- If you edit coverage options, the system will automatically update pending benefit elections to reflect the changes. However, those changes will not show in approved benefit elections.
Voluntary life insurance in this help guide refers to voluntary life and voluntary life and AD&D plans.
When setting up or editing a voluntary life insurance plan, the Plan Details step will show you a blue callout about communicating guaranteed issue. It includes information on how you can add guaranteed issue coverage amounts in the Description field.
In the Coverage Options step, a list of coverage options—Spouse or Domestic Partner and Children—will appear, from which you can choose to have the plan cover in addition to the employee. Once you save and finalize the voluntary life insurance plan, you will not be able to remove your selected coverage options, but you can select additional coverage options if needed.
By default, the Coverage Options step shows the Employee Coverage Amount section, and within this section, you can enter coverage amounts for the employee. If you include additional coverage options (Spouse or Domestic Partner and Children), a new section will appear for each coverage option. Each section has the Increment Size,* Minimum, and Maximum* fields, but two sections have additional settings:
- Employee Coverage Amount: Here, you have an option to set another maximum based on a multiple of employee salary. If set, the effective maximum coverage the employee can select will be the lower of the two maximums. This setting allows up to 2 decimal places.
- Spouse/Partner Coverage Amount: In this section, you can determine a maximum based on a percentage of employee coverage (percentage value). This setting allows up to 2 decimal places.
You can edit any of coverage amount fields at any time. All fields must have a value greater than 0 (except for the Minimum field). If you leave the Minimum field blank, the system will assume a minimum equal to the increment size.
When the employee is electing benefits, they will be able to determine voluntary life coverage amounts based on your plan setup.
*Increment Size and Maximum fields are required.
If you have existing voluntary life insurance plans, the workflow will remain the same (employees typing in coverage amounts during enrollment experience) unless you choose to update the Coverage Options step for those plans by following the steps listed above.
If you are creating a voluntary AD&D insurance plan, you will be able to add AD&D premiums in the Eligibility and Cost step.
Within the AD&D Rates table, enter a rate per a specific amount of coverage. Once added, the system will use the inputted rates to calculate costs for employees to view during the enrollment process and admins to review when approving benefit elections.
In the Plan Details step for HSA/FSA plans, you must specify if the plan requires enrollment in a specific medical plan. If yes, select the medical plans that are tied to the HSA/FSA plan.
In the Plan Details step of a supplemental health plan, you have the following plan types to choose from:
- Hospital Indemnity
- Critical Illness
- Accident
- Cancer
If you choose Critical Illness, you will be able to add coverage amounts in a new step—Coverage Options. Here, you can define coverage amounts for the employee and any additional covered persons (e.g., spouse or domestic partner and children).
Two options will appear for additional coverage options:
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Range: This option will bring up new fields for you to enter the increment size, minimum, and maximum.
- When determining the maximum for the spouse/domestic partner, you can either add a specific currency amount or have the maximum be based on a percentage of the employee's coverage.
- Percentage of employee's coverage: If selected, you can enter a percentage of the employee's coverage.
The next step—Eligibility and Cost—will show that you can add costs during each employee's enrollment for the variable rate critical illness plan.
Benefits enrollment experience: After setting up critical illness plans, your employees can choose to enroll and determine coverage amounts for themselves and their dependents (if applicable).
Once the employee submits their benefit elections, you will need to enter costs in Employee and Company Pays fields on the admin approval page. You can also refer to the coverage amounts set within the Selected Coverage Level column on the same page.
If you edit coverage amounts outside of the enrollment window (via the bulk enrollment tool or the employee's Benefits tab), you will need to communicate the new enrollment details with your carriers.