Benefit

Article Dean Dorton

Most companies want to provide their employees with the best medical benefit coverage; however, healthcare costs and the cost of medical insurance continue to increase. One way to help reduce your costs is a dependent eligibility verification audit.

It is estimated that 4% to 8% of dependents nationwide are ineligible to participate in their company’s medical plan. It is also estimated that a company’s annual average cost of medical coverage for a dependent is approximately $3,300. We have seen these national estimates hold true in the clients that we have worked with in the past year.

So how do you identify the ineligible dependents?

The best way is to conduct a dependent eligibility verification audit. Your company can perform this audit, or a third party can be brought in to assist you. Dean Dorton would be happy to guide you through the process and perform the audit for you. Dependent eligibility verification audits can be very sensitive. They are very time consuming if it is not done properly, and dependents could be wrongly removed from the plan, upsetting employees.

The goals of a dependent eligibility verification audit are to achieve a high response rate from your employees and to make sure that only those who are ineligible for coverage are removed – not to remove the maximum number of dependents in the shortest period of time. We highly recommend partnering with Dean Dorton because we are trained and experienced in performing audits. Our services are designed to:

  • Meet the specific needs and objectives of each client
  • Achieve the highest response rate and compliance rate
  • Properly handle a significant volume of confidential data
  • Provide open, strong communication channels with employees and management
  • Provide value and cost savings

If you would like to learn more about the solutions we can provide, please contact Jim Tencza at (502) 566-1071 or jtencza@deandorton.com to set up a consultation today.


View Jim Tencza’s Bio

Article Dean Dorton

In November, the Department of Labor (DOL) began sending emails to plan sponsors alerting them of the importance of obtaining a quality audit from a qualified and experienced CPA firm. The timing of the DOL communication is intended to coincide with the period when many plan audit contracts are renewed or out for proposal.

The Department of Labor letter refers to the recent DOL audit quality study which found deficiencies in nearly 40% of employee benefit plan audits (DOL study found at www.dol.gov/ebsa).  The DOL letter also states that employee benefit plan audits have unique audit and reporting requirements and are different from other financial audits, and that substandard audit work can be costly to plan administrators and sponsors.

According to the DOL study, CPA firms that were members of the AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center tended to produce audits that have fewer audit deficiencies. Dean Dorton is a member of the AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center and audits nearly 100 plans annually, including defined benefit, defined contribution and health and welfare plans. Over the past few years, several of the plans we audited were inspected by the DOL with no significant findings.

For more information, contact Jim Tencza, Director of Assurance Services, at jtencza@deandorton.com.


View Jim Tencza’s Bio