BenefitPoint Inc., a trading community for the insurance industry, later this quarter will roll out new capabilities that let corporate benefits departments collaborate with insurance brokers and carriers to handle enrollment for a variety of employee services via a single Internet interface.

The community also will let insurance carriers handle bill payment and eligibility determination via the Web, according to BenefitPoint officials.

Using a Web-based platform developed in conjunction with Web integrator Scient Corp., BenefitPoint already is delivering an exchange capability that lets insurance brokers get quotes and exchange documentation with insurance carriers, including property and casualty companies as well as group health care and other insurance providers.

About 65 large insurance brokers have joined the community in an effort to streamline the disjointed paper and fax communications currently used to link carriers, brokers, employers and employees.

"Because we can communicate and transact business more efficiently with employers, carriers and third-party vendors, we can provide more effective customer service," said Jim Durkin, president of Gallagher Benefit Services, the employee benefit operation of insurance brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

"Ultimately, BenefitPoint will enable us to increase revenue, lower costs, and improve customer satisfaction and retention," he said.

By using BenefitPoint, brokers can expect to eliminate between 20 percent to 40 percent of the time it takes to generate quotes, said Brian Bair, co-founder of the company.

"That's just for the quote process," he added. "When we add online payment and eligibility, that figure is likely to increase."

Adding insurance carriers to the system will take longer than brokerages, because each carrier has its own proprietary means of collecting billing and customer data, Bair conceded. But one carrier, Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co., has already begun to work with BenefitPoint.

"When we evaluated e-commerce solutions, we were impressed by the buy-in BenefitPoint has already received from the insurance brokerage community," said Chris Fazzini, vice president of sales and marketing at Reliance Standard Life. "By joining, we immediately increase efficiency in access to our current brokers, add new distribution channels and increase our visibility."

On the employer side, BenefitPoint will initially focus on companies with 50 to 5,000 employees, Bair said. Such companies typically don't have large benefits departments and are the most likely to turn to the Web in search of assistance with administration, he said.

The software platform for the BenefitPoint community was developed in conjunction with Scient, but now is a proprietary package owned by BenefitPoint, Bair said. The system is built for an Oracle database and BEA's WebLogic software, and offers customer relationship management tools from SilkNet Software Inc.

BenefitPoint is charging transaction fees for quotes accepted via its site, and a separate fee structure for the benefits administration and enrollment services will be charged on a per-employee, per month basis, Bair said. The exchange capability is available now. The enrollment, payment and eligibility services are scheduled to be rolled out later this quarter.

 
B-To-B Benefits
Key capabilities of the BenefitPoint insurance trading community: