Updating your Health Care Rates With Ease

It’s that time of year again—Open Enrollment is just around the corner! For HR teams and organizations, this period can be both exciting and stressful as it brings a mix of new opportunities and logistical challenges. One thing that remains constant, however, is the annual increase in healthcare rates. Over my many years of supporting clients through their Open Enrollment processes, this trend has become all too familiar. While adjusting rates is a necessary task, it can also be a tricky one, especially when handled manually. Even organizations with fewer healthcare plans aren’t immune to the pitfalls of this process.

I’ve encountered several instances where manual updates led to typos or errors that not only complicated the enrollment process but had a ripple effect on downstream systems such as Payroll and Integrations. Something as minor as an extra zero or a misplaced decimal can escalate into a significant error, causing headaches and financial discrepancies that take time and effort to resolve. Because of this, I always recommend a more efficient and accurate approach to updating healthcare rates by using the Put Health Care Rate web service. 

WHY I ADVOCATE FOR THE PUT HEALTH CARE RATE WEB SERVICE

1. Minimizing Errors
   Manually updating healthcare rates for each plan across multiple tenants can significantly increase the likelihood of human error. A simple typo in one tenant can result in incorrect rates, inevitably affecting downstream processes. Using a web service (aka ‘EIB’) reduces this risk by allowing you to use the same file to test updates in your implementation tenant first. After the rates pass testing, you can load the same EIB into Production, ensuring the updates are accurate across all tenants.
2. Streamlining the Process
   Updating healthcare rates manually within a tenant can be time-consuming as you need to modify each plan one at a time, then each rate for each plan one at a time. This not only requires considerable effort but also leaves more room for mistakes. With the EIB, you only need to enter the updated rates once, and they are then consolidated into a single file, simplifying navigation and updates. You’ll be able to load all rates at once, which saves time and helps ensure accuracy. 
3. Simplified Reporting and Tracking
   One of the greatest benefits of using the EIB is its Excel-based format. Since the file is essentially a spreadsheet, it makes comparing data across different periods or plans much easier. This format makes data comparison easy, and if you happen to make a mistake, you can update your EIB and reload it into Workday again without any hassle.

REQUIREMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR USING THE PUT HEALTH CARE RATE EIB

The web service is specifically designed for plans that utilize calculated rates only. If your organization falls within this category, the EIB is an excellent tool for updating both new and existing rates.

To successfully load the EIB, users must have the appropriate permissions to execute the integration within the system. If the benefit analyst doesn’t have access, the HRIS analyst can easily download the EIB template from Workday into an Excel spreadsheet and share it with the necessary parties.

This EIB is versatile, allowing you to load both new healthcare rates and updates to existing ones. When updating existing rates, it’s strongly recommended to generate the EIB using data extracted directly from the system. This ensures that the rates are correctly formatted and helps prevent any data loss during the loading process. By following this approach, you can significantly reduce errors and ensure a smooth integration of healthcare rate updates.

Ultimately, I believe most people can manage the health care EIB on their own. However, if you find yourself stuck or need assistance filling it out or troubleshooting an issue, don’t hesitate to reach out: we are here to help!