Defined contribution benefits tool

• US 7,584,107 B2
• Filed: 09/09/2002
• Issued: 09/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services GmbH (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Rey, David, Steinmetz, Melinda W., Brown, Renee J., Goodfriend, Evelyn G., Huxley, Jeffrey L., Ludwig, Amie A., Villa, Joseph E., Leisure, Lawrence B., Abodeely, Heather M., Swanson, Erik C., Farkas, Amy, Dahle, David R., Dearborne, Cecil R., Maiser, Laurie H., Stolar, Glenn A.
• Primary Examiner(s): OUELLETTE, JONATHAN P
• Application Number:
  US10/237,889
• Publication Number:
  US 20040049397A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,549 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1
• US Class Current: 705/322
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1057 Benefits or employee welfare, e.g. insurance, holiday or retirement packages
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A defined contribution benefits tool having various embodiments interfaces employers, employees, brokers and benefits suppliers. Suppliers provide product information. An employer creates an employer profile indicating the categories of benefits to offer, which categories are required, which categories the employer will contribute to, and the contribution range for the categories. Based on the profile (and from other available products), a portfolio recommendation that essentially meets the requirements is generated. Based on the portfolio recommendation, the employer chooses a set of products as its benefits portfolio. Employees create an employee profile allocating the total employer contribution among a set of benefit categories. A package recommendation that essentially meets the requirements set forth in the employee'"'"'s profile is generated. From this recommendation (and from other available products), the employee chooses his or her benefits package.

Claims

1. A method for managing defined contribution benefits, comprising:

storing product information about a plurality of benefits products from a plurality of benefits suppliers in a computer system for access by multiple of a plurality of employers and by multiple of a plurality of employees, wherein each of the plurality of employees corresponds to one of the plurality of employers;

designing a plurality of defined contribution benefits portfolios, each of the defined contribution benefits portfolios corresponding to one of the plurality of employers, including for each employer;

providing an employer profile, the profile including the budgeted amount for benefit compensation provided by the employer;

defining a plurality of categories of benefits within the defined contribution benefits portfolio, including defining employer preferred allocation values towards the benefits categories;

automatically generating, with a computer, a portfolio recommendation for the employer, comprising a set of recommended benefit product plans selected from a combination of the plurality of benefit products customized to both of the employer profile and the preferred allocation values towards the benefits categories; and

selecting a set of benefit product plans to be offered within the defined contribution benefit portfolio based upon the portfolio recommendation and selections of the plurality of benefit products by the employer;

establishing a defined benefit selection from the defined contribution benefit portfolio of the employer corresponding to each employee, including for each employee;

presenting, to the employee, a total contribution by the employer towards benefits;

presenting, to the employee, the benefit categories and benefit products within the benefit product plans contained within the defined contribution benefits portfolio of the employer;

receiving, from the employee, a plurality of preferred allocation values indicating employee preferences of how to apportion the total employer contribution among the benefit categories and benefit products;

generating a package recommendation for the employee, comprising a combination of benefit products from the set of benefit product plans that is customized according to the preferred allocation values; and

presenting options to enable the employee to select a personalized subset of benefit products from the plurality of benefits products based on the package recommendation; and

configuring, for each of the plurality of employees, a benefits package, the benefits package containing the personalized subset of the benefits products selected from the defined contribution benefits portfolio designed for the employer of the employee.

2. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 1, wherein designing each of the plurality of defined contribution benefits portfolios further comprises:

creating the employer profile, the employer profile indicating parameters of the defined contribution benefits portfolio; and

creating selections of the plurality of benefits products to be offered within the benefit product plans according to the parameters of the defined contribution benefits portfolio.

3. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 1, wherein the plurality of benefit categories correspond to the plurality of benefits products;

and

wherein the employer profile comprises a set of offered categories chosen from the plurality of benefit categories.

4. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 3, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of required categories chosen from the set of offered categories.

5. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 3, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of contribution categories for each of the offered categories.

6. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 3, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories.

7. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 6, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a minimum value.

8. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 6, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a maximum value.

9. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 6, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a cap value.

10. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 1, wherein the preferred allocation values are consistent with a set of required categories, and a set of contribution ranges from an employer profile.

55. The method from claim 2, further comprising adding to the set of offered products at least one benefits product not included in the portfolio recommendation.

58. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 1, wherein each of the benefits suppliers participate in a workflow, including enrolling employers and employees with benefits products, performing underwriting analysis to evaluate performance of benefits products, adjusting benefits products based upon the underwriting analysis, and renewing availability of benefits products to employers and employees.

11. A method for designing an employer benefits portfolio in a system for managing defined contribution benefits, wherein a plurality of benefit categories correspond to a plurality of benefits products, the method comprising:

creating an employer profile for each of a plurality of employers indicating parameters of a defined contribution benefits portfolio, the profile including the budgeted amount for benefit compensation provided by the employer;

defining the plurality of benefit categories within the defined contribution benefits portfolio, including defining employer preferred allocation values towards the benefits categories;

automatically generating, with a computer, a portfolio recommendation, comprising a combination of benefits products customized to both of the employer profile and the preferred allocation values towards the plurality of benefits categories; and

choosing a set of offered benefits products from the plurality of benefits products based on the portfolio recommendation and selections of the plurality of benefit products by the employer.

12. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 11, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of offered categories chosen from the plurality of benefit categories.

13. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 12, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of required categories chosen from the set of offered categories.

14. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 12, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of contribution categories for each of the offered categories.

15. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 12, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories.

16. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 15, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a minimum value.

17. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 15, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a maximum value.

18. The method for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 15, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a cap value.

19. A system for managing defined contribution benefits, comprising:

a storage unit for storing benefits product information about a plurality of benefits products from a plurality of benefits suppliers in a computer system for access by multiple of a plurality of employers and by multiple of a plurality of employees, wherein each of the plurality of employees corresponds to one of the plurality of employers;

a designer unit for designing a plurality of defined contribution benefits portfolios, each of the defined contribution benefits portfolios corresponding to one of the plurality of employers, including for each employer;

providing an employer profile, the profile including the budgeted amount for benefit compensation provided by the employer;

defining a plurality of categories of benefits within the defined contribution benefits portfolio, including defining employer preferred allocation values towards the benefits categories;

generating a portfolio recommendation for the employer, comprising a set of recommended benefit product plans selected from a combination of the plurality of benefit products customized to both of the employer profile and the preferred allocation values towards the benefits categories; and

selecting a set of benefit product plans to be offered within the defined contribution benefit portfolio based upon the portfolio recommendation and selections of the plurality of benefit products by the employer;

a selection unit for establishing a defined benefit selection from the defined contribution benefit portfolio of the employer corresponding to each employee, including for each employee;

presenting, to the employee, a total contribution by the employer towards benefits;

presenting, to the employee, the benefit categories and benefit products within the benefit product plans contained within the defined contribution benefits portfolio of the employer;

receiving, from the employee, a plurality of preferred allocation values indicating employee preferences of how to apportion the total employer contribution among the benefit categories and benefit products;

generating a package recommendation for the employee, comprising a combination of benefit products from the set of benefit product plans that is customized according the preferred allocation values; and

presenting options to enable the employee to select a personalized subset of benefit products from the plurality of benefits products based on the package recommendation; and

a configuration unit for configuring, for each of the plurality of employees, a benefits package, the benefits package containing a personalized subset of the benefits products selected from the defined contribution benefits portfolio desigued for the employer of the employee.

20. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 19, wherein the desiguer unit further comprises:

a profile creation unit for creating the employer profile, the employer profile indicating parameters of the defined contribution benefits portfolio; and

a product choosing unit for creating selections of the plurality of benefits products to be offered within the benefit product plans according to the parameters of the defined contribution benefits portfolio.

21. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 19, wherein the plurality of benefit categories correspond to the plurality of benefits products;

and

wherein the employer profile comprises a set of offered categories chosen from the plurality of benefit categories.

22. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 21, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of required categories chosen from the set of offered categories.

23. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 21, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of contribution categories for each of the offered categories.

24. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 21, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories.

25. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 24, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a minimum value.

26. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 24, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a maximum value.

27. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 24, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a cap value.

28. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 19, wherein the preferred allocation values are consistent with a set of required categories, and a set of contribution ranges for an employer profile.

59. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 19, wherein each of the benefits suppliers participate in a workflow, including enrolling employers and employees with benefits products, performing underwriting analysis to evaluate performance of benefits products, adjusting benefits products based upon the underwriting analysis, and renewing availability of benefits products to employers and employees.

29. A system for designing an employer benefits portfolio in a system for managing defined contribution benefits, wherein a plurality of benefit categories correspond to a plurality of benefits products, the system comprising:

an employer profile creation unit for creating an employer profile for each of a plurality of employers indicating parameters of a defined contribution benefits portfolio, the profile including the budgeted amount for benefit compensation provided by the employer;

an employer benefit categorization unit for defining the plurality of benefit categories within the defined contribution benefits portfolio, including defining employer preferred allocation values towards the benefits categories;

a portfolio recommendation generation unit for generating a portfolio recommendation, comprising a combination of benefits products customized to both of the employer profile and the preferred allocation values towards the plurality of benefits categories; and

an offered benefits products unit for choosing a set of offered benefits products from the plurality of benefits products based on the portfolio recommendation and selections of the plurality of benefit products by the employer.

30. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 29, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of offered categories chosen from the plurality of benefit categories.

31. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 29, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of required categories chosen from the set of offered categories.

32. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 29, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of contribution categories for each of the offered categories.

33. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 29, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories.

34. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 33, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a minimum value.

35. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 33, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a maximum value.

36. The system for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 33, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a cap value.

56. The system from claim 29, wherein the code segment that chooses the set of offered products adds to the set at least one product not included in the portfolio recommendation.

37. A computer program on a computer readable medium, for managing defined contribution benefits when executed by a computer, the computer program comprising:

a code segment that stores product information about a plurality of benefits products from a plurality of benefits suppliers in a computer system for access by multiple of a plurality of employers and by multiple of a plurality of employees, wherein each of the plurality of employees corresponds to one of the plurality of employers;

a code segment that designs a plurality of defined contribution benefits portfolios, each of the defined contribution benefits portfolios corresponding to one of the plurality of employers, including for each employer;

providing an employer profile, the profile including the budgeted amount for benefit compensation provided by the employer;

defining a plurality of categories of benefits within the defined contribution benefits portfolio, including defining employer preferred allocation values towards the benefits categories;

generating a portfolio recommendation for the employer, comprising a set of recommended benefit product plans selected from a combination of the plurality of benefit products customized to both of the employer profile and the preferred allocation values towards the benefits categories; and

selecting a set of benefit product plans to be offered within the defined contribution benefit portfolio based upon the portfolio recommendation and selections of the plurality of benefit products by the employer;

a code segment that establishes a defined benefit selection from the defined contribution benefit portfolio of the employer corresponding to each employee, including for each employee;

presenting, to the employee, a total contribution by the employer towards benefits;

presenting, to the employee, the benefit categories and benefit products within the benefit product plans contained within the defined contribution benefits portfolio of the employer;

receiving, from the employee, a plurality of preferred allocation values indicating employee preferences of how to apportion the total employer contribution among the benefit categories and benefit products;

generating a package recommendation for the employee, comprising a combination of benefit products from the set of benefit product plans that is customized according the preferred allocation values; and

presenting options to enable the employee to select a personalized subset of benefit products from the plurality of benefits products based on the package recommendation; and

a code segment that configures, for each of the plurality of employees, a benefits package, the benefits package containing a personalized subset of the benefits products selected from the defined contribution benefits portfolio designed for the employer of the employee.

38. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 37, wherein the code segment that designs each of the plurality of defined contribution benefits portfolios comprises:

a code segment that creates the employer profile, the employer profile indicating parameters of the defined contribution benefits portfolio; and

a code segment that creates selections of the plurality of benefits products to be offered within the benefit product plans according to the parameters of the defined contribution benefits portfolio.

39. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 37, wherein the plurality of benefit categories correspond to the plurality of benefits products, and

wherein the employer profile comprises a set of offered categories chosen from the plurality of benefit categories.

40. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 39, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of required categories chosen from the set of offered categories.

41. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 39, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of contribution categories for each of the offered categories.

42. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 39, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories.

43. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 42, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a minimum value.

44. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 42, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a maximum value.

45. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 42, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a cap value.

46. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 37, wherein the preferred allocation values are consistent with the set of required categories, and the set of contribution ranges from an employer profile.

57. The computer program from claim 38, further comprising adding to the set of offered products at least one product not included in the portfolio recommendation.

60. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 37, further comprising a code segment which allows each of the benefits suppliers to participate in a workflow, including enrolling employers and employees with benefits products, performing underwriting analysis to evaluate performance of benefits products, adjusting benefits products based upon the underwriting analysis, and renewing availability of benefits products to employers and employees.

47. A computer program on a computer readable medium, for designing an employer benefits portfolio when executed by a computer, wherein a plurality of benefit categories correspond to a plurality of benefits products, the computer program comprising:

a code segment that creates an employer profile for each of a plurality of employers indicating parameters of a defined contribution benefits portfolio, the profile including the budgeted amount for benefit compensation provided by the employer;

a code segment that defines the plurality of benefit categories within the defined contribution benefits portfolio, including defining employer preferred allocation values towards the benefits categories;

a code segment that generates a portfolio recommendation, comprising a combination of benefits products customized to both of the employer profile and the preferred allocation values towards the plurality of benefits categories; and

a code segment that chooses a set of offered benefits products from the plurality of benefits products based on the portfolio recommendation and selections of the plurality of benefit products by the employer.

48. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 47, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of offered categories chosen from the plurality of benefit categories.

49. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 47, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of required categories chosen from the set of offered categories.

50. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 47, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of contribution categories for each of the offered categories.

51. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 47, wherein the employer profile comprises a set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories.

52. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 51, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a minimum value.

53. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 51, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a maximum value.

54. The computer program for managing defined contribution benefits from claim 51, wherein the set of contribution ranges for each of the offered categories comprises a cap value.