Intrepid Benefits Drives Efficiencies with Employee Navigator and Mutual of Omaha

Challenge

Intrepid Benefits, TRUE Network of Advisors members and partners in Patriot Growth Insurance Services, has been delivering state-of-the-art benefits consulting paired with white-glove service to their clients for over 30 years. As one of the first brokers to join the Employee Navigator platform more than ten years ago, Intrepid Benefits knew that automation was the key to providing the best service to their clients.

By pairing Employee Navigator with their preferred ancillary insurance carrier, Mutual of Omaha, Intrepid has reduced manual processes, saved time, and strengthened client relationships. “We transitioned to modern integrations,” Melanie McLaughlin, Intrepid Benefits says, “ and we cut out a bulk of the time it takes to manage enrollments with Mutual of Omaha. It’s a lot faster to go through a few discrepancy reports every week than to key in every change manually.”

“The integration has helped us tremendously with efficiency.  We integrate all our clients who have Mutual of Omaha benefits on Employee Navigator as soon as possible!” Melanie McLaughlin | Intrepid Benefits.

Reduce Manual Work Through Automation

As the role of a broker becomes more demanding and requires an agency to wear multiple hats for their clients, it’s become apparent that automation should be prioritized. Intrepid Benefits recognized that processing enrollments manually could be eliminated with the Mutual of Omaha integration. “Instead of handling loads of manual work each week, we can use that time to better our Employee Navigator sites, set up more feeds, and audit more often to ensure that everything is lining up.” Once the integration was implemented, Intrepid Benefits was able to focus on other tasks that serve the needs of their clients.

It’s no secret that open enrollment can be time-consuming and stressful when managing multiple clients and new enrollments. On top of that, there is a risk that an enrollment was missed, a change wasn’t reported, or an employee missed the enrollment deadline. That’s where the Mutual of Omaha integration steps in — “our audits are so much cleaner because things are caught on the front end on error reports instead of waiting to hit the bills.” Melanie, Intrepid Benefits explains that issues with “age reduction, rounding,” and various other “small things” are far less present.

Mistakes and errors can still happen, even if they’re few and far between. When errors occur, it’s crucial to have a team behind you to assist. Melanie reports that Mutual of Omaha’s “EDI team is super responsive” and the Intrepid Benefits team “could always get an answer” for any question or issue. The integration saves time, prevents common errors, and provides support whenever needed.

“To have not only the integration but also the support behind it is huge for us.” Melanie McLaughlin | Intrepid Benefits.

Results

In today’s world, automation is key to running any successful business. Client expectations are rising, and efficiency is more important than ever before. Take it from Intrepid Benefits, clients notice the difference when automation comes into play. Clients “notice how much cleaner their bills are, how much more accurate Employee Navigator is [down] to the penny.” The reduced possibility of human error through the Mutual of Omaha integration is a stand-out for saving time and impressing the client.

While your clients are impressed, the integration can further benefit an agency by improving the broker’s day-to-day. Every broker has a story of a stressful day, week, month, or year when it comes to managing new hire enrollments, changes, and open enrollment. Introducing an enrollment integration between Employee Navigator and a carrier, like Mutual of Omaha, creates some relief for even the busiest days. “Not only does the integration alleviate our enrollment team, it alleviates our advocate team.”

At the end of the day, the primary goal is to save time, increase efficiency, and improve the enrollment experience for brokers and employers alike. Taking advantage of Employee Navigator’s full suite of integrations is the best step forward. Intrepid Benefits said it best — “Do it! It saves so much time and manpower and is well worth the learning curve and setup process.”