managing open enrollment - sentinel benefits...• your completed 2016 open enrollment plan...

Managing Open Enrol lment FSA Plans

Presented by: Sam Mitchell, EVP Scott Riordan, Director, Health & Welfare Services

[email protected] [email protected]

Save the Date UPCOMING CLINICS October 8, 2015 Don’t Let Your Annual Notices Slow You Down (Retirement Plan Focused) November 19, 2015 Private Exchanges – The Future of Health Insurance? December 17, 2015 Annual Package Refresher Course (Retirement Plan Focused) All webinars are held 2:00-3:00 EST. Register in “Webinars & Events” under “For Companies” at www.sentinelgroup.com

http://www.sentinelgroup.com/


Asking Questions

• Expand the “Questions” menu

• Type your question

• Click “Send”


Today’s Agenda

• FSA Open Enrollment Basics • Plan Design Options • Options for enrolling participants • Timeline • What we are working on for 2016 • Next Steps


FSA Open Enrollment Basics • FSA is required to be an active annual

enrollment. • Debit Card cards must be ordered or reloaded

each year.

• Open enrollment is the best time to keep your employees informed.


What to look for


Why we need this info • Open enrollment dates/methodology: This

will allow us to appropriately set up our systems and open up the website, if necessary.

• Insurance co-pay information: This data is

programmed into the debit card system to help with debit card claims processing.

• Pay schedule information: This allows the system

to properly track contributions throughout the plan year.


1. Do I add a Limited Purpose FSA benefit? – Only applicable to groups with an HSA option – Allows participants to put away pre-tax money for dental and vision expenses – Beneficial to those with significant dental/vision expenses (i.e. paying for

braces or LASIK) while allowing for HSA funds to remain untouched

2. Do I adopt the $500 carryover provision or the Grace Period? – A plan may not offer both the $500 carryover and the Grace Period. – The $500 carryover allows for Health FSA funds to be rolled into the next plan

year if unused, with no impact to the annual contribution limits. – The Grace Period allows for an extra 2 ½ months of spending after the plan

year against the prior year’s balance.

3. Do I sync my FSA plan year with my health insurance plan year?

– This change would require a short plan year to the FSA.

Plan Design Decisions


Enrollment Management Sentinel’s FSA clients manage their enrollment through 1 of 3 options: • Traditional Management (paper forms, compiled in

Excel)

• Sentinel’s Online Enrollment Manager

• Company Enrollment System (in-house or payroll) – feed sent to Sentinel


Which Option Works Best for You?

55% 37% 8%

Traditional Sentinel Online

Company System


Open Enrollment Kickoff • You will receive an email on or before 10/7/2015. • This email will come from [email protected] • If you have questions on the information that we’re requesting, you may

contact Rose Carrick or Diana Fisher. Information Returned • Your completed 2016 open enrollment plan information be returned on

or before your open enrollment window begins. • For employers not using Sentinel’s online enrollment system, we ask that

your participant enrollments be returned to us by 11/20/2015. System Setup and activation • Sentinel will update our systems with the information provided. • The debit card system will be updated with election information. • The new plan year will be active on 1/1/2016.

Sentinel’s Timeline

mailto:[email protected]


What We Accomplished in 2015

• Enhanced $500 carryover processing.

• Improved contribution processing through Sentinel’s website.

• Debit card management through the participant portal.

• Participant notifications for tracking claims and payments.


More than a participant portal. A place to manage.

CDH Payments Reimbursements Pay the Provider

Debit Card Transactions

Receipts and Expenses

Medical Claims and Premiums

What We are Working on for 2016


Sentinel “On the Go”

• View Account Balances

• Manage payments

• Submit claim requests

• Receive account notifications

What We are Working on for 2016


Next Steps… • Watch out for Sentinel’s Open Enrollment Kickoff (email)

– If you have not received emails from Sentinel’s system previously, it may be a good idea to “unSpam” [email protected] within your email system.

• Consider any plan design changes you may want to make for

the next Plan Year • Notify Sentinel of any plan design changes as well as the

information requested on our survey. • Educate participants via collateral, webinar and Benefit Fairs

and let Sentinel know if you would like assistance.

• Send enrollment data to Sentinel by 11/20/2015.

mailto:[email protected]


Questions? Next Client Clinic October 8, 2015 Don’t Let Your Annual Notices Slow You Down

managing open enrollment - sentinel benefits...• your completed 2016 open enrollment plan...

Documents