A dependent eligibility verification (DEV) is an essential tool for maintaining the integrity of your health benefits plan. By verifying the eligibility of dependents on your plan, your company can avoid unnecessary costs, maintain compliance, and ensure that only qualified individuals are receiving benefits. Here’s why a dependent audit is beneficial for your organization:
- Cost Control: Health benefits are one of the largest expenses for most companies. A DEV helps eliminate ineligible dependents, which can significantly reduce healthcare costs. By only covering those who are truly eligible, companies can prevent inflated premiums and unnecessary claims.
- Compliance Assurance: Offering benefits to ineligible dependents can put your company at risk for legal and regulatory non-compliance . A DEV ensures that your plan adheres to state and federal regulations, avoiding costly penalties.
- Enhanced Plan Integrity: Conducting a dependent DEV enhances the overall integrity of your health plan by ensuring fairness and transparency. This can lead to more equitable distribution of resources across all employees.
- Improved Data Accuracy: A DEV also helps update and verify employee records, ensuring that the information in your system is accurate and up to date. This can improve future benefits planning and payroll accuracy.
Why You Should Outsource Your DEV
While some companies may consider conducting an audit in-house, outsourcing this service provides a range of additional benefits that make the process smoother, more effective, and less disruptive to internal dynamics.
1.Expertise and Efficiency: Third-party audit firms specialize in this process and bring a wealth of knowledge about compliance regulations, industry’s best practices, and efficient audit procedures. They have the tools and experience to complete audits faster and more accurately than most internal teams.
- Neutrality and Objectivity Outsourcing allows for an unbiased review of your health plan enrollments. External auditors are not personally connected to employees, which helps avoid conflicts of interest or any perception of favoritism. This neutrality is critical for maintaining trust among staff.
- Avoiding Workplace Tension: DEVs can be sensitive, as they require employees to submit personal documents and could result in the removal of ineligible dependents. Outsourcing the audit reduces the likelihood of strained relationships between HR teams and coworkers, as employees may feel less defensive when dealing with an impartial third party.
- Focus on Core Responsibilities: By outsourcing, HR teams can focus on their strategic responsibilities rather than getting bogged down in audit administration. This allows the audit to be handled by experts without disrupting daily operations.
Dependent Eligibility Verifications are the perfect cost savings tool for any company looking to optimize their benefits administration. Let ETC provide a Dependent Eligibility Verification for you today. Call Mark Miller at: (214) 212-4772