We’re Big on Answering
Your Questions — So by All
Means, Ask!
At Essential Benefits, we love to answer questions — big ones, small ones and all the other ones, too. It’s part of our overarching goal to communicate clearly with our customers and their employees so that they are educated about their benefits and can make the best decisions for their particular circumstances.
Here, we provide answers to many of the most common questions we receive, but if you don’t find what you’re looking for, use the email link to ask us directly. We’ll be sure to provide you an answer fast.
If You’re Ready for
Real Enrollment Solutions,
Call Us at 562-338-3075
or Click to Email Us Today.
FAQs from Brokers & Clients
How long have you been in the business?
We opened our doors in August 2003.
Do you have references?
We are happy to share a reference list of over 100 clients who you can call. Please take a moment to read testimonials from a few of our many happy clients.
What voluntary benefits carriers do you offer to brokers?
We proudly offer products from Colonial Life.
Are your enrollment and Benefits Administration support services available nationwide?
Yes. All of our enrollment solutions are available Nationwide.
Do you offer Concierge Support services on a fee basis when a client does not have Worksite benefits that typically pay for your enrollment services?
Yes. We have benefit counselors that can answer employee questions during an enrollment. These services are offered on a fee basis.
Do you offer enrollment services only for voluntary benefits, or do you also handle core products (medical, dental, vision, ancillary) as well?
We can handle almost any type of enrollment, provided voluntary benefits (VB) are offered to fund the enrollment services: VB only or Core + VB. We also provide enrollment services on a fee-based basis when voluntary benefits are not offered to the employer group.
What carriers can you enroll for broker clients?
We are a Colonial Life house and therefore, offer only Colonial Life supplemental benefits. If you don’t think Colonial Life is competitive, then please ask us to do a side-by-side comparison to your selected VB carrier. You will be surprised.
Do you perform the same enrollment process for all groups every year?
No. Every group, every year, evaluates the kind of enrollment services that are needed. We recommend using our Five-Year Enrollment Strategy. That plan may include some call center and self-enrollment, but the majority of benefit-eligible employees must be enrolled using the agent-assisted face-to-face process to maximize the employees’ ability to learn about and understand their benefits.
Do you employ benefits-administration technology?
Yes; we use three systems primarily. We own licenses for Employee Navigator and Ease and also use Colonial Life’s Harmony enrollment platform. For larger and more complex cases we provide the Selerix Benefits Administration system. Additionally, if the client is using a different BenAdmin system, we can enroll benefits directly on their native system.
Do you have a call center?
Yes. Our call center has 130 agents providing nationwide coverage. We can perform full core benefits with VB enrollments, or VB-only enrollments or we can provide fee-based concierge services to support outsourced human resource department needs.
Do you provide inbound or outbound call center services?
Our primary focus is face-to-face meetings with employees and scheduled outbound calls for open enrollment and new hires during the plan year. We have online scheduling tools that work for any employee.
Are there any restrictions on the industries you will enroll?
Yes. Each carrier has a list of prohibited industries. Please contact us for a list of them.
Do you have bilingual Spanish-language collateral materials?
We have bilingual materials, as well as bilingual Benefit Counselors.
Are there any other languages you can support for enrollment?
Depending on the carrier and the number of special-language employees, yes, but the resources are not as robust as they are for the Spanish-language support.
What type of pre-enrollment education do you do for employer groups?
We use a variety of pre-enrollment communications tools. The typical tool set consists of email and paper communications, posters, fliers, table-top tents, as well as webinars and group meetings.
Do you have an electronic system for employees to schedule their Benefit Counselor meetings?
Yes. We have a very robust system that can handle employee enrollment scheduling for multiple locations.
Are there minimum requirements for the amount of enrolled premium?
We don’t look at minimum requirements for enrolled premium. We do, however, carefully examine the opportunity to make sure the employer and broker are truly interested in employee benefits education during the enrollment process. On that basis, we decide whether or not to accept an enrollment opportunity.
Are there minimum requirements for the number of employees in an employer group?
We work with groups of at least 25 employees, with no maximum.
Can Essential Benefits perform VB and Core benefits enrollment for new hires during the year?
Yes. For new hires, we provide both call-center and face-to-face enrollment services for Core Enrollments and/or VB.
What training do your Benefit Counselors receive prior to executing an enrollment?
Because every business is different, we require our Benefit Counselors to receive case-specific training prior to enrollment. If they miss it, they may not work on that case. The preparation covers everything, from industry specifics to average age of employees to medical, dental and vision benefits, as well as deductibles, voluntary and ancillary benefits and — critical to success — the most effective methods for educating employees about their benefit choices.