Strategy

No two companies are alike and Verus does not give any company cookie-cutter treatment. Your Verus Account Management Team will work with you to determine your particular pain points and then assist you with the creation of a comprehensive, multi-year strategy that will leave your bottom line and your employees happy.

Cost Containment

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employer costs for employee benefits averaged $10.48 per hour, per employee, a staggering 31.4% of the overall compensation for civilian workers. Verus can help you control the costs of your benefit program with aggressive plan management, through carrier and vendor negotiation and cutting edge program design.

Benchmarking

A comprehensive benefits package directly affects a business’s ability to attract and retain high caliber employees.  We will compare the benefits packages of each of our clients to those of their peers of similar size, industry and region on an annual basis.  In addition to identifying areas that set our clients apart from their competitors, this analysis will pinpoint areas in which a benefits package is in need of adjustment in order to be competitive.

Plan Design, Pricing & Contract Negotiations

Your Verus team will assist you in all related contract negotiations. We will work to deliver the best product for the best pricing while remaining transparent and thorough in our consultation with you. We will assist your team in developing a robust benefits plan design that suits the needs of your budget and your employees.

Vendor Assessment & Recommendation

Your company is the best at what it does. Your Verus Account Management Team will find the best vendors at what they do. While some brokers value the relationship they share with vendor-partners over their client’s best interest, Verus will work diligently to find the best fit for you and your team.

International

Navigating the complexities of international employee benefits can be intimidating. We work with expert professionals with decades of experience in international benefits, compensation and administration. Your global program will be in good hands.

Contract Review

A common blind spot in plan management is ensuring that the promises made at the negotiation table make it to the final contract. Verus will thoroughly review all contracts for accuracy and ensure a smooth plan year and limited surprises.

Program Implementation

A smooth implementation is critical to the success of any benefits program. We will work on your behalf with vendors, carriers and communications experts to determine the best rollout of new initiatives or program elements. We will prepare signature ready implementation materials and work to verify that your organization gets what it expects from all parties involved.

Benefits Technology Services & Implementation Support

Pew survey results indicate that 68% of American adults own a smartphone. Verus believes that employee communication and engagement should match pace with the times. We work with a wide range of forward thinking technology companies to bring our clients unique solutions to a classic problem: How to communicate the complexities of benefits with ease? Verus will help you determine what methods of communication, engagement, data tracking, and ongoing benefit support will best suit your needs. From dynamic and responsive communication campaigns to benefits technology implementation with third party integration, Verus can provide thorough expertise and assistance.

Learn more about our partnership with Maxwell Health, a benefits technology vendor. 

Wellness Plan Design & Support

Verus utilizes a comprehensive ten step process to help your company discover and implement wellness programs while ensuring compliance with state and federal regulation. Your Account Management Team will help you establish your goals, leverage your resources, engage with your employees, enact a smooth roll-out and then measure the success of your program.

ERISA

The Verus Account Management team will assist your company maintain complete ERISA compliance by providing consultation and expert analysis of ERISA obligations stemming from the original 1974 act and all subsequent amendments. Verus provides access to our ERISA Attorney when a more thorough review of regulation or interpretation is required. The team will assist you in determining Title I applicability as well as compliance support for other ERISA requirements such as COBRA, HIPAA (also discussed below) MHPA, WHCRA, GINA, Newborns’ Act and Michelle’s Law.

PPACA

Your Verus Account Management Team will help guide you through the complexities of PPACA including Grandfathering, Small Business Tax Credits, impacts of ACA on Medicare Part D, Non-Discrimination and Patient Protection rules. We will also provide consultation regarding consumer driven health plans, MLR Rebates and tax impacts. Verus can provide customized reviews of reporting requirements, plan design limitations and administrative concerns. If you have not already done so, Verus can provide a comprehensive Pay or Play analysis and can review the impact of this complex legislation on your self-funded plan.

HR Support

Verus provides all clients with access to a cloud-based platform of integrated HR resources and training supported by live HR experts. This service includes access to an award-winning resource center for all your workforce issues and training solutions that help develop employees and ensure compliance. Additional resources include an Employee Handbook Builder, Performance review tools, HR Audit Checklist, Salary Benchmarking, and a cache of downloadable forms and tools. In addition, we provide access to more than 200 compliance related webinar courses such as Harassment prevention, Safety and OSHA, Wellness and Environmental compliance.

Auditing Services

Verus provides annual compliance audits and will provide signature ready deliverables for all items following the audit, which will conform to compliant standards. We will provide you with a written action plan outlining any areas of non-compliance and will assist in all stages of accommodation. Although not expected, Verus will be able to assist you in the case of an audit by any one of the regulatory agencies overseeing employee benefits.

HIPAA

Verus can provide template resources as well as one on one training in all areas of HIPAA compliance, as applicable to plan management. We will review HIPAA Privacy & Security regulations, Breach procedures and a technical guide for implementing upgraded security measures and compliant policies.

Provided Templates & Solutions

Where possible, Verus will provide turnkey solutions for a wide range of employee benefits issues including mandatory employee notifications, WRAP and SPD materials and other compliance materials.

Open Enrollment

Verus will assist you in the design and implementation of a custom open enrollment campaign that suits the needs of your company and employees. Whether there are few or many plan changes, Verus will provide on-site experts and assistance at your direction. We will help design open enrollment materials and assist with the distribution method of your choice including professionally printed materials or a cloud or mobile based distribution. Our beautifully designed template materials will provide informative benefit and policy information in a way that is easy for your employees to understand. 

Change Management

We will assist you with the transition to new partners and carriers including the design and development of employee communications. We will organize and lead implementation meetings and ensure that service guarantees and contractual obligations are met.

Design

Verus understands that communication materials are not “one-size fits all”.  If a custom campaign is desired, we will work with your team and our design experts to create a suite of materials that follow your message, are visually appealing and informative. 

Onboarding (new hires) Support

An employer’s benefit package is extremely important to the majority of new hires.  Effectively communicating what is available to employees directly impacts their satisfaction with the benefits.  We can help you design a campaign that will educate and empower your employees to make enrollment decisions that best suit their needs and those of their eligible family members. 

Actuarial Services

Verus partners with Wakely Actuarial Consulting Services to provide high level actuarial consulting and independent third party analysis. Our clients have access to Fortune 500 level consulting should the nature of the plan and complexities require additional auditing services. Our partnership provides us with the ability to prepare comprehensive renewal evaluations, Exchange benchmarking, IBNR reporting, Stop Loss analysis, Plan Design analysis, Regression Analysis, ACA modeling and Self-Funded Feasibility studies.

Underwriting

Verus provides underwriting review of all carrier and TPA rate analyses for fully insured groups. For all self-funded plans your Verus Account Management team will prepare fully-insured equivalent rates as well as COBRA rates. Using plan specific historical claims experience, blending manual experience as appropriate, Verus will forecast rates required for the needed time period using client-applicable trend figures.

Periodic Claim Audit

Verus will assist your plan in determining the need for and timing of Periodic Claims audits. Our team will work with you on the selection of a claims auditor for the purposes of identifying payment errors and opportunities for cost savings as well as incorrect applications of plan language during claims adjudication. This will ensure your self-funded plans compliance with fiduciary responsibilities and will help optimize plan performance and ensure TPA accuracy.