Setting Up a Benefit Plan
To maintain the client's group benefit, retirement, flexible spending, employer match, and HSA match plans, use the Benefit Plan Setup form.
Note: To quickly access the Client Benefit Plan Import form, select Import Client Benefit Plans. (Set the Plan Class to Group Benefit to view this quick link.) You can use the Client Benefit Plan Import form to import the client benefit plan. After that, you must set up a data file and a benefit import definition.
Benefit plans must first be set up at the system level. When this is done, each plan offered by the client is established in Benefit Plan Setup.
Note: If your organization is using Benefits Enrollment, the forms for flexible spending plans will display in enrollments only if the plans are set up in Benefit Plan Setup and in the Benefits tab in Client Details.
You can access benefit-related features and settings using the Actions menu:
• | Viewing the Audit Log |
• | Using a Default Benefit Plan Template |
• | Viewing Employees Assigned to a Benefit Plan |
• | Maintaining Benefit Eligibility Groups |
• | Setting Up Employee Enrollment Conditions |
• | Establishing Eligibility by Benefit Group: Displays only when you select Flexible Spending in the Plan Class drop-down and select the Use Benefit Groups option. |
• | Clone Benefits: Creates new benefit plans for this client based on the plans for another client. |
Establishing Basic Information
Establish the basic information for the plan in the Benefit Plan Setup panel.
Note: Different panels display on this form depending on the selected Plan Class. Refer to the appropriate panel descriptions for the plan you are editing.
To establish basic information about a plan:
1. | Open the Basic Plan Setup panel. |
2. | Set the following parameters. |
Use this option | To define this | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Plan Class | The plan class (required): this determines the other panels that display on the form. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Plan ID |
The ID of the benefit plan you want to create or view (required). The system displays the plan information on the rest of the form. Note:
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Status | The status of the selected plan (required). | |||||||||||||||||||||
Start Date |
The date when the plan becomes active (required). Employees can enroll in the plan only with an effective date on or after this date. |
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Stop Date |
The date when coverage under this plan ends. This applies only when the plan is no longer offered. Employees cannot enroll in the plan after this date. |
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TPA Plan ID Override |
If required, the TPA Plan ID Override code to associate with this benefit plan. |
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High Deductible Plan |
Indicates whether or not a plan is an HDHP plan. Note: Please note the following:
Additionally, please note the following validations:
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Exempt take on employees from Minimum Days of Service Requirement |
When you select Plan Class as:
Note: Please note the following:
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View Deduction/Bill Codes |
When you select the Group Benefit option in the Plan Class, along with selecting the Plan ID and Status, selecting this link opens the Plan Deduction and Billing Codes form. This read-only form displays the deduction codes used for the selected plan. In addition, this form displays whether the plan is set up as a Section 125 plan, which assists in determining the deduction code for most enrollees. Note: The Section 125 Eligible field is enabled on the Group Benefit Plans form. |
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View Benefit Rules |
Click this hyperlink to open the Benefit Rules modal form and view the list of Benefit Rules and their effective dates for the Plan ID indicated on the Benefit Plan Setup form. On the modal form that is displayed:
Click the Setup New Rule hyperlink to open the Benefit Rules form and view the preselected Benefit Plan. The View rules that are not found checkbox allows you to filter the benefit group that has the value of Not Found in the Effective Date column. |
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Use Benefit Groups |
Whether to determine employee eligibility by benefit group. Eligibility criteria for benefit groups is set up in the Eligibility by Benefit Group form, accessible in the Actions menu; See Establishing Eligibility by Benefit Group. This option is available only when Flexible Spending is selected in the Plan Class list. |
3. | Click Save. |
Establishing Rate Information
To establish rate information for Group Benefit plans, use the Group Benefits Setup panel.
To establish rate information for group benefit plans:
1. | Open the Group Benefits Setup panel. |
2. | Set the following parameters. |
Use this option | To define this | |||||||||||||||
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Billing Rate Group | The assigned Billing Rate Group for this plan, if it is a billing rate plan. When you click the Billing Rate Group hyperlink, the selector will only display the active billing rate groups assigned to the Plan on the Benefit Plan Setup form. | |||||||||||||||
Premium Rate Group | The assigned Premium Rate Group for this plan, if it is a premium rate plan. When you click the Premium Rate Group hyperlink, the selector will only display the active premium rate groups assigned to the Plan on the Benefit Plan Setup form. | |||||||||||||||
Pending Rate Group |
The Pending Billing Rate Group for this plan, if appropriate. When you click the Pending Rate Group hyperlink, the selector will only display those billing rate groups assigned to the Plan on the Benefit Plan Setup form which have an Effective Date tied to the Billing Rate Group.
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Pending Rate Group Effective Date |
The date when the pending billing rate group becomes effective.
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Pend Prem Rate Group |
The Pending Premium Rate Group for this plan, if appropriate. When you click the Pend Prem Rate Group hyperlink, the selector will only display those premium rate groups assigned to the Plan on the Benefit Plan Setup form which have an Effective Date tied to the Premium Rate Group.
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Pend Prem Rate Group Effective Date |
The date when the pending premium rate group becomes effective.
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Rule Template | The Rule Template to use to calculate eligibility, coverage, and employee contributions if there is no client- or plan-specific rule. | |||||||||||||||
One Month Prepay |
Whether to bill the client and deduct the amounts from the employees for the next month in the current month. For example, bill and deduct in July for August. |
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Add One Month For Prepay |
Whether the system should check for and use any new rates and rules in the upcoming month. For example, during a July payroll, PrismHR would check if there are rules and rates that go into effect in August.
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Annual Periods |
The Annual Periods to use to calculate the employee deduction amount, either 48 or 52 deduction periods. |
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Coverage Ends On |
The date coverage ends when an employee is terminated. You can select a specific date (for example, 16th Day of the Month) from the drop-down menu, or the following:
This field becomes a non-mandatory field if the Coverage Ends On field is defined at the global level on the Group Benefit Plans form. However, you can select any options to set the Coverage Ends On and this will act as an override to the global level setting. When you select any Coverage Ends On option on the Group Benefit Plan form, then that option is displayed with a Default tag in parenthesis in the Coverage Ends On field on the Benefit Plan Setup form. This setting provides visibility to help you identify the setting that is being used at the global or the system level. |
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Use Billing Wash Rule? |
Whether the system applies the billing wash rule to the group benefit plan for new hires and terminated employees. The Use Billing Wash Rule? is now a drop-down has two options:
For examples on applying the billing wash rule, see Applying the Billing Wash Rule. |
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Cafe Plan Eligible |
Whether this benefit is eligible for the client's cafe plan. For example, this option is selected if the client offers $1500 to cover benefit plans and this plan qualifies. |
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Benefit Billing Frequency |
When plan billing occurs. If you select one of the monthly options, PrismHR bills the client the whole portion at the beginning of the month, and then gives credits for the other pay periods in that month. If you do not make a selection, the system uses the pay period. |
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Payroll Deduction Frequency |
Whether to override the employee's normal pay period payroll deduction frequency. The standard is each pay period. |
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Payroll Deduction Frequency |
If instructed by the PrismHR Customer Support Team, the frequency for calculating premiums. |
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Premium Calculation Month/Day |
The month and day to use to calculate plan premiums. |
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Client Plan Renewal Month/Day |
Allow you to provide a plan renewal date for a benefit plan. Select is the default option in both the month and day drop-down lists. A tool-tip is provided with a message stating This field will be used as an override to the date specified on the Group Benefit Plans form. If one exists for the Benefit Plan selected, the Group Benefit Renewal date will be displayed. which explains the functionality of this field. Note: Please note the following:
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Network Selection Rule |
Network Selection Rule: For future development. Does not currently impact the functionality of PrismHR. |
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Carrier Account |
A Carrier Account. It does not need to be one of those entered in Group Benefit Plans, but if it is you must enter the same risk factors in the Risk Factor panel. |
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Auto Enrollment |
Whether to enable automatic enrollment and set employee waive options for this benefit plan. This option depends upon other settings in the system
Note: Please note the following:
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Suppress O/E Auto Term |
Whether to prevent the posting procedure from terminating enrollments that are active in that benefit plan. |
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Suppress Benefit Adjustment on Employee Termination |
Whether the client wants to suppress benefit adjustments that would normally have been created due to payroll timing if an employee is terminated. The Suppress Automatic Benefit Adjustment field in the Benefits tab in the Client Details form overrides this field and must also be selected for this setting to go into effect. |
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Default Network ID |
The Default Network ID that the system uses as a default for employees who enroll in the plan. |
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Rule Date to Use for Take-On |
A date that is greater than the PEO start date. This avoids a PEO start date that is less than the benefit rule date (causing employees to not be offered benefits), |
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Earliest Premium Rate Date to Use Earliest Billing Rate Date to Use |
The available premium and billing rate effective dates set up at the system level for the group benefit plan. If the date you want is not available in the list, set up the effective date and rates at the group benefit plan level. If you have clients with multiple benefit plan billing and premium rates, select these dates to offer those clients interim rates before the next open enrollment date. |
Setting Up Fringe Benefit Pay Codes
To treat a client-paid portion of this benefit as a fringe benefit, use The Fringe Benefit Pay Codes panel. The system automatically adds the pay code and amount to the Other Earnings section of the calculated regular pay vouchers.
To set up a fringe benefit pay code:
1. | Open the Fringe Benefit Pay Codes panel. |
2. | Set the following parameters. |
Use this option | To define this | |||||||||
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Fringe Benefit Pay Code | Each Fringe Benefit Pay Code to add to the calculated regular pay vouchers. | |||||||||
Add to Retirement Pay | Whether to include the pay code in 401(k) wages when calculating retirement benefits. | |||||||||
Only apply to S-Corp Principal Employees |
Whether only S-Corp Principal employees will have the client benefit portion treated as a fringe benefit. Otherwise, this portion is treated as a normal deduction. Note the following:
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Defining Risk Factors
To enter data about risk factors (if necessary), use the Risk Factor panel. The global settings determine whether the risk factor is standard or extended precision, and whether it applies to premiums, billing, or both.
To set up information about risk factors:
1. | Open the Risk Factor panel. |
2. | Set the following parameters. |
Use this option | To define this |
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Effective Date | The date when the premium risk factor goes into effect. |
Premium Risk Factor |
The Premium Risk Factor to use as a multiplier when calculating the benefit premiums (both cost and billing) for each unique client/benefit plan combination. The Premium Risk Factor amount is applied to the calculated premium for the benefit. If the system uses standard risk factors, the system limits it to two decimal places. (If you enter more, the system rounds it off to two digits.) |
Admin Surcharge |
Currently this field is suppressed to only allow a blank value. If a user attempts to enter a value in this field, the system displays the following message:
This field will be available in a future release. |
Applying the Hawaii 1.5% Rule
Note: The Hawaii 1.5% Rule section will only display on the Benefit Plan Setup form for Plan Class selected as Group Benefit. For all other Plan Class, this section will not display on the Benefit Plan Setup form.
To apply Hawaii's Prepaid Health Care Act 1.5% health insurance premium rate to selected benefit groups, use the Hawaii 1.5% Rule panel
See Using the Hawaii 1.5% Rule for detailed information on how the system processes this calculation. This calculation is not available in Benefits Enrollment.
You can select the Exclude Plan When Calculating Medical Premium Limit option in the Special Options panel in Group Benefit Plans to exclude benefit plans from the Hawaii medical contribution calculation at the system-level.
To apply Hawaii's Prepaid Health Care Act 1.5% rate to selected benefit groups:
1. | Open the Hawaii 1.5% Rule panel. |
2. | Set the following parameters. |
Use this option | To define this |
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Benefit Group | Each Benefit Group to which the Hawaii 1.5% rule applies. The Group Name displays. |
HI 1.5% Rule Applies | Whether to apply the Hawaii 1.5% rule to the selected benefit group, otherwise select No. |
Defining Participation Requirements at the Client Level
To establish participation requirements ensuring that client and employee enrollments follow carrier guidelines at the client level, use the Participation Requirements panel.
To establish participation requirements criteria:
1. | Select a Participation Requirement Option: |
• | No |
• | Yes: Enables the Participation Requirement Start Date and Participation Requirement Percentage fields. |
• | Use System Default: Uses the values defined at the system level. See Defining Participation Requirements at the System Level. |
2. | In the Participation Requirement Start Date field, enter the date clients must meet the participation requirement. |
3. | Enter a Participation Requirement Percentage. The value must be a number from 1 to 100. |
Establishing Eligibility Criteria
To establish employment type and benefit eligibility requirements for Retirement, Flexible Spending, Employer Match, or HSA Match plans, use the Eligibility Criteria panel.
If you are setting up a flexible spending plan and select the Use Benefit Groups option, this panel does not display. You must set up eligibility criteria in the Eligibility by Benefit Group form, accessible in the Actions menu.
To establish eligibility criteria:
1. | Open the Eligibility Criteria panel. |
2. | Set the following parameters. |
Use this option | To define this | |||||||||||||||
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Employment Status Class | Each employment Status Class that is eligible for this benefit plan. If employees of all status classifications are eligible, you do not need to select any statuses. | |||||||||||||||
Employment Type(s) | The employment type or types that are eligible for this plan. If employees of all employment types are eligible, you do not need to select any types. | |||||||||||||||
Minimum Age |
The minimum age required to be eligible for this plan. |
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Minimum Days/Months of Service |
The minimum days/months of service required to be eligible for this plan. Use the drop-down to select Days or Months. |
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Minimum Annual Hours |
The minimum annual hours of service required to be eligible for this plan. |
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Eligibility Days From |
Whether to count eligibility days from the Hire Date or Status Date for benefit rules calculation of the FSA/HSA Effective Date.
If the Eligibility Days From option is set to Hire Date, and the life event Source of Effective Date is set to Benefit Rules, the employee eligibility date is based on the original hire date plus any waiting period.
If the Eligibility Days From option is set to Status Date, and the life event Source of Effective Date is set to Benefit Rules, the employee eligibility date is based on the original Life Event Date plus any waiting period. Note: If you select a Plan Class of either Retirement or Employer Match, then the Eligibility Days From field will remain disabled. |
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Eligibility Date Used |
The Eligibility Date Used determines how the system calculates the date employees meet eligibility requirements for this plan.
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Auto Enroll |
Whether to override the flag at the plan level. If you select this option, you must enter the Auto Enroll Percent. Note: The Auto Enroll option applies only to Retirement and Employer Match plans. |
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Auto Enroll Percent |
If automatic enrollment is enabled, this is the deferral percentage at which employees will be automatically enrolled. If you enter a value which is NOT >=3 and <=10, and the Auto Escalator field below is checked then you will get a warning message stating Auto Enrollment Percent must be between 3%-10% when using Auto Escalator. Note: The Apply Enroll Percent option applies only to Retirement and Employer Match plans. |
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Auto Escalator |
This field will only display if the Auto Enrollment field is checked for a Retirement Plan.
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Auto Escalator Max Percent |
This field becomes visible only after the Auto Enrollment field is checked. However, this field becomes editable only after the Auto Escalator field is checked. Enter any value between 10-15 (including up to 2 decimal places), which is the maximum predetermined benefit rate percentage decided by the employer for that client.
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Specifying Whether to Include Pay Codes
To indicate any pay codes that are a part of retirement earnings, use the Include/Exclude Pay Codes panel.
To indicate pay codes that are part of retirement earnings:
1. | Open the Include/Exclude Pay Codes panel. |
2. | Set the following parameters. |
Use this option | To define this |
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Type | Whether the pay codes are Included or Excluded as part of retirement earnings. You can also leave this field blank (the default setting). |
Pay Code |
Each Pay Code to include or exclude from the retirement deferral calculations, as determined by the type. The Description displays. The pay code selected applies only if the employee deferral is a percentage. |
Defining the HSA Contribution Amount and Frequency
To establish the amount and frequency of the Health Savings Account client
To set up the HSA
1. | Open the Company HSA |
2. | Set the following parameters. |
Use this option | To define this | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Standard:
Tiered:
Scheduled:
Fixed:
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Contribution Applies To |
To which employees the contribution applies to. You can select Contributing Employees Only or All HDHP Employees. The default is Select which means no option is selected.
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HSA |
The HSA |
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HSA |
The frequency of the HSA |
3. | Click Save to save the selected Plan ID record. |
4. | Click Delete to delete the selected Plan ID. |
• | You cannot delete a benefit plan using the Benefit Plan Setup form if there are existing benefit rules for that Plan ID for the client as this will orphan the associated benefit rules and can cause payroll errors along with other issues. If you try to delete a benefit plan from the Benefit Plan Setup form and if there are existing benefit rules for that Plan ID for the client, you will receive an error stating There are Benefit Rules assigned to this benefit plan. Please remove all rule references. You can only delete a benefit plan from the Benefit Plan Setup form if there are no existing benefit rules for that Plan ID for the client or after you have removed all the benefit rules for that Plan ID for the client. |
• | You cannot delete a benefit plan using the Benefit Plan Setup form if there are associated Employee Benefit Enrollment records for the client for the selected Plan ID that have a status of Active, Terminated, or COBRA as this will orphan the associated Employee Benefit Enrollment records and can cause payroll errors along with other issues. |
• | If you try to delete a benefit plan from the Benefit Plan Setup form and if there are associated Employee Benefit Enrollment records for the client for the selected Plan ID that have a status of Active, Terminated, or COBRA, you will receive an error stating This plan cannot be deleted. There are employees assigned to this benefit plan with enrollment history. Example: Employee Enrollment for Employee ID [XXXXX] and Effective Date [XX/XX/XXXX]. |
• | If you try to delete a benefit plan from the Benefit Plan Setup form and if there are associated Employee Benefit Enrollment records for the client for the selected Plan ID that have a status of Pending, Waived, or Eligible, you will receive a warning stating There are employees assigned to this benefit plan with an enrollment status of pending, waived and/or eligible. Do you wish to continue? |
• | Click Yes to delete the selected Plan ID. |
• | Click No to return to the Benefit Plan Setup form with the selected Plan ID and associated data populated. |
• | You can only delete a benefit plan from the Benefit Plan Setup form if there are no associated Employee Benefit Enrollment records for the client for the selected Plan ID that have a status of Active, Terminated, or COBRA. |
5. | Click Cancel to clear this form at any time. All unsaved changes will be lost. |