Transamerica Broadens Enrollment Options

In an effort to simplify a complicated enrollment procedure for businesses and their employees, Transamerica Employee Benefits integrated its TransApp enrollment system with technology from PlanSource, which provides payroll, benefits administration, exchange and HRIS solutions. The cloud-based software streamlines processes and broadens the range of insurance products available to customers.

Transamerica has done business with Plansource for about a year and the two formalized their partnership within the past few months. As Transamerica employers take on the responsibility of ACA compliance, the Plansource software helps them by controlling healthcare spending and informing employees of their coverage options from the insurer and its affiliates.

Businesses can use the system to send data between health plans, benefit advisors, payroll systems, COBRA providers, insurance carriers, HSA and FSA administrators, and other benefit service providers. They also have access to tools for maintaining policy group data and billing reconciliation.

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Plan participants have access to multi-media educational tools and the option to review their benefit choices and register throughout the year. The expanded variety of health and life products, combined with improved ease of use, aligns with Transamerica’s customer service strategy.

“We’re continuing to extend our ability to reach out and connect with consumers,” says John Stanley, CMO at Transamerica. “We think being able to demonstrate a variety of benefits that meet the needs of specific employees and their families, which can be leveraged with a decision support tool, is critical to a self-service enrollment environment.”

Digital capabilities and customer experience were prioritized throughout the software design, according to Richard Mann, chief product officer at Plansource. “As healthcare becomes more of a personal program, employees or subscribers need a lot more information and education about their benefits,” he explains. “The goal was to help employees understand their needs and recommend a plan that best meets those needs.”

The tool prompts users with questions about their coverage preferences in order to determine which plan best suits them. Should they have questions of their own, users may inquire through the platform’s chat tool or send a direct message to their employer’s HR administrators. They may also opt-in or opt-out to different types of messages from carriers or employers.

Mann also emphasizes the importance of security throughout development. Most carriers require Plansource to pass security audits, he explains. Each has its own due diligence process with Plansource, which conducts penetration tests and processes to ensure security.

Kelly Sheridan is the Staff Editor at Dark Reading, where she focuses on cybersecurity news and analysis. She is a business technology journalist who previously reported for InformationWeek, where she covered Microsoft, and Insurance & Technology, where she covered financial ... View Full Bio