Benefit management system and method

• US 20030229522A1
• Filed: 12/20/2002
• Published: 12/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Benefit Resource
• Original Assignee: Benefit Resource
• Inventors: Thompson, John B., Hernandez, Joel T., Gilbert, Jeanne M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,234,222 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/105 Human resources
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1057 Benefits or employee welfare, e.g. insurance, holiday or retirement packages
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

A benefit management system and method provides a portal-based information management and collaborative business process application. Preferably, the system and method is focused at the benefit broker/consultant and is configured to capture employee benefit management data, such as demographic data and plan data. Further, preferably, one or more users are provided with customized user access to the centralized application for use in performing one or more various benefit plan management functions, such as, for example, marketing, plan design; enrollment; administration; and communication between one or more application users.

Claims

1. A method for use in providing employee benefit management services, the method comprising:

providing an application operable to perform one or more employee benefit functions using an associated relational database configured to store employee benefits management plan data, wherein the employee benefits management plan data comprises at least one benefit plan derived from at least one benefit plan design creation template, wherein the at least one benefit plan design creation template comprises at least a plurality of selectable benefit plan details quotable by more than one benefit provider of a plurality of benefit providers, and further wherein the application comprises a plurality of presentation panels for use in providing information to a user, wherein the presentation panels are configured to provide at least one of user perceivable graphical elements and user interaction graphical elements, and further wherein the at least one benefit plan design creation template is configured as at least one presentation panel;

providing at least one application portal to allow at least one authorized user access to the application, wherein the at least one application portal is extendable to one or more additional authorized users by the at least one authorized user to permit the one or more additional authorized users access to all or a limited portion of at least one of the presentation panels and the employee benefits management plan data; and

accessing, by an authorized user, the application such that the authorized user through a plan creator user interface provided by the at least one presentation panel can create a benefit plan using the benefit plan design creation template, wherein at least a plurality of the selectable benefit plan details of the benefit plan design creation template are provided to the authorized user in a dynamic, multi-level format such that selection by the authorized user of one or more of a plurality of options associated with at least one selectable benefit plan detail displayed to the authorized user determines a plurality of selectable benefit plan details and one or more associated benefit plan options to be subsequently displayed to the authorized user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

allowing an authorized user to access the application to input demographic plan data, wherein the demographic plan data comprises at least one of employer and employee/dependent data; and

generating a benefit plan request for proposal comprising at least one benefit plan in conjunction with the demographic plan data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises generating, using the application, a benefit plan request for proposal calculated response based on the benefit plan request for proposal.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises generating, at an external benefit provider, a benefit provider request for proposal response based on the benefit plan request for proposal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more benefit plan options comprise valid options.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises allowing one or more of a benefit/broker consultant, an employer/client, an employee, and a benefit provider to access all or a limited portion of at least one of the presentation panels and the employee benefits management plan data.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises allowing one or more of a benefit/broker consultant, an employer/client, an employee, and a benefit provider to create, delete or modify a benefit plan.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises allowing one or more of a benefit/broker consultant, an employer/client, an employee, and a benefit provider to create, delete or modify demographic plan data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises allowing an employer/client, after the employer/client has adopted a benefit plan, to perform one or more employee benefit management functions.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein allowing an employer/client to perform one or more employee benefit management functions comprises allowing the employer/client access to change demographic data associated with the benefit plan.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises allowing an employee, after an employer/client has adopted a benefit plan, access to at least a portion of the employee benefits management data.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein allowing an employee access comprises allowing access to at least benefit provider plan information.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises maintaining the benefit plan based on changes in associated employee/dependent demographic plan data.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises providing plan change notification relating to the modification of the benefit plan.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises mining the employee benefits management plan data for use in generating at least one of a plurality of reports.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises personalized image branding one or more presentation panels used to interface with one or more of a benefit broker consultant, an employer/client, an employee, and a benefit plan provider.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein access to the at least one application portal is implemented using at least an internet connection.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the at least one application portal comprises:

providing a benefit broker/consultant portal to allow at least one benefit broker/consultant access to the application;

providing at least one extension of the benefit broker/consultant portal as at least one satellite portal, wherein the at least one satellite portal is separately configurable by the benefit broker/consultant to extend certain rights to one or more employer/clients for access to the application portal; and

providing one or more child portals corresponding to the one or more employer/clients, wherein each child portal is an extension of the access extended to the respective one or more employer/clients and permits each of the one or more employer/clients to further extend access to the application to one or more additional users, wherein the one or more additional users comprise at least one employee of at least one of the one more employer/clients.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises providing security authorization to control access of users to at least one of portions of the presentation panels and/or employee benefits management plan data.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein providing security authorization to control access of users to at least one of more portions of the presentation panels and/or employee benefits management plan data comprises:

providing view controllable security of the one or more presentation panels such that access to view or edit the presentation panels is restricted; and

providing data security such that user access to view or edit data of one or more presentation panels is restricted.

21. A method for use in providing employee benefit management services, the method comprising:

providing an application operable to perform one or more employee benefit functions using an associated relational database configured to store employee benefits management plan data;

allowing one or more users access to the application via one or more user portals, wherein the one or more users comprise at least one of a benefit/broker consultant, an employer/client, an employee, and a benefit provider, wherein allowing one or more users access to the application comprises providing customized access through the one or more user portals such that at least one user has different access rights relative to another user; and

opening at least one user portal such that at least one of the one or more users through a plan creation user interface can create a benefit plan using the employee benefits management plan data.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises allowing one or more of a benefit/broker consultant, an employer/client, an employee, and a benefit provider to create, delete or modify a benefit plan.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises allowing one or more of a benefit/broker consultant, an employer/client, an employee, and a benefit provider to create, delete or modify demographic plan data.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises allowing an employer/client, after the employer/client has adopted a benefit plan, access to allow the employer/client to perform one or more employee benefit management functions.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein allowing an employer/client access comprises allowing the employer/client access to change demographic data associated with the benefit plan.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises allowing an employee, after an employer/client has adopted a benefit plan, access to at least portions of employee benefits management data.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein allowing an employee access comprises allowing access to at least benefit provider plan information.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein the employee benefits management plan data comprises at least one benefit plan derived from at least one benefit plan design creation template, wherein the at least one benefit plan design creation template comprises at least a plurality of selectable benefit plan details quotable by more than one benefit provider of a plurality of benefit providers.

29. The method of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises:

opening at least one user portal to allow input of demographic plan data, wherein the demographic plan data comprises at least one of employer/client and employee/dependent data; and

generating a benefit plan request for proposal comprising at least one benefit plan in conjunction with the demographic plan data.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the method further comprises generating, by the application, a benefit plan request for proposal calculation.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the method further comprises generating, at an external benefit provider, a benefit provider request for proposal response.

32. The method of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises personalized image branding one or more user interfaces used by the one or more users when accessing the application.

33. The method of claim 21, wherein access to the one or more user portals is implemented using an internet connection.

34. The method of claim 21, wherein allowing one or more users access to the application via one or more user portals comprises:

providing a benefit broker/consultant portal to allow at least one benefit broker/consultant access to the application; and

providing at least one extension of the benefit broker/consultant portal as at least one satellite portal, wherein the at least one satellite portal is separately configurable by the benefit broker/consultant to extend certain rights to one or more employer/clients for access to the application portal.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the method further comprises providing one or more child portals corresponding to the one or more employer/clients, wherein each child portal is an extension of the access extended to the respective one or more employer/clients and permits each of the one or more employer/clients to further extend access to the application to one or more additional users, wherein the one or more additional users comprise at least one employee of at least one of the one more employer/clients.

36. The method of claim 21, wherein the application comprises a plurality of presentation panels for use in providing information to a user, wherein the presentation panels are configured to provide at least one of user perceivable graphical elements and user interaction graphical elements, and further wherein the method comprises providing security authorization to control access of the one or more users to at least portions of the presentation panels and/or the employee benefits management plan data.

37. A method for use in providing employee benefit management services, the method comprising:

providing a central application operable to perform one or more employee benefit functions using an associated relational database configured to store employee benefits management plan data;

providing a benefit provider via a user portal with access to all or certain portions of the employee benefits management plan data;

providing a benefit/broker consultant via a user portal access to all or certain portions of employee benefits management data; and

allowing the benefit/broker consultant to provide one or more employer/clients via a user portal access to all or certain portions of the employee benefits management data.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the method further comprises allowing the employer/client to provide one or more employees thereof with access to all or certain portions of the employee benefits management data.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the method further comprises allowing the benefit/broker consultant or the employer/client to be a plan creator, wherein the plan creator is allowed through a plan creator user interface to create a benefit plan using the employee benefits management plan data.

40. The method of claim 37, wherein the method further comprises allowing one or more of a benefit/broker consultant, an employer/client, an employee, and a benefit provider to create, delete or modify one or more portions of a benefit plan.

41. The method of claim 37, wherein the method further comprises allowing one or more of a benefit/broker consultant, an employer/client, an employee, and a benefit provider to create, delete or modify one or more portions of demographic plan data.

42. The method of claim 37, wherein the method further comprises:

opening at least one user portal to allow input of demographic plan data, wherein the demographic plan data comprises at least one of employer/client and employee/dependent data; and

generating a benefit plan request for proposal comprising at least one benefit plan in conjunction with the demographic plan data.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the method further comprises generating, by the application, a plan request for proposal calculation response.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein the method further comprises generating, at an external benefit provider, a benefit provider request for proposal response.

45. The method of claim 37, wherein the method further comprises personalized image branding one or more user interfaces by the benefit broker consultant or an employer/client.

46. The method of claim 37, wherein access to one or more of the user portals is implemented using an internet connection.

47. The method of claim 37, wherein the application comprises a plurality of presentation panels for use in providing information to a user, wherein the presentation panels are configured to provide at least one of user perceivable graphical elements and user interaction graphical elements, and further wherein the method comprises providing security authorization to control access of at least one of the benefit/broker consultant, an employer/client, and a benefit provider to at least portions of the presentation panels and/or the employee benefits management plan data.

48. A method for use in providing employee benefit management services, the method comprising:

providing an application operable to perform one or more employee benefit functions using an associated relational database configured to store employee benefits management plan data, wherein the application comprises a plurality of presentation panels for use in providing information to a user, wherein the presentation panels are configured to provide at least one of user perceivable graphical elements and user interaction graphical elements, wherein the application is accessible via one or more user portals customizable to permit one or more users access to all or a limited portion of at least one of the presentation panels and/or employee benefits management plan data; and

personalized image branding of one or more presentation panels used to provide one or more user interfaces with the one or more users, wherein personalized image branding comprises selection of one or more characteristics of one or more of the user interfaces displayed to the one or more users.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise a particular layout.

50. The method of claim 48, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise a brand name.

51. The method of claim 48, wherein the one or more users comprise one or more of a benefit/broker consultant, an employer/client, an employee, and a benefit provider.

52. A method for use in providing employee benefit management services, the method comprising:

providing an application operable to perform one or more employee benefit functions using an associated relational database configured to store employee benefits management plan data, wherein the application comprises a plurality of presentation panels for use in providing information to a user, wherein the presentation panels are configured to provide at least one of user perceivable graphical elements and user interaction graphical elements;

providing a benefit broker/consultant portal to allow at least one benefit broker/consultant access to the application;

providing at least one extension of the benefit broker/consultant portal as at least one satellite portal, wherein the at least one satellite portal is separately configurable by the benefit broker/consultant to extend certain rights to one or more employer/clients for access to the application; and

providing security authorization to control access of at least one of the benefit broker/consultant and the employer/clients to one or more portions of at least one of the presentation panels and/or employee benefits management plan data.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein providing security authorization comprises:

providing view controllable security of the one or more presentation panels such that access to view or edit the presentation panels is restricted; and

providing data security such that access to view or edit data of one or more presentation panels is restricted.

54. The method of claim 52, wherein the method further comprises providing one or more child portals corresponding to the one or more employer/clients, wherein each child portal is an extension of the access extended to the respective one or more employer/clients and permits each of the one or more employer/clients to further extend access to the application to one or more additional users, wherein the one or more additional users comprise at least one employee of at least one of the one more employer/clients.

55. A computer implemented system for use in providing employee benefit management services, the system comprising a central application operable to perform one or more employee benefit functions using an associated relational database configured to store employee benefits management plan data, wherein the central application is accessible via one or more user portals by a benefit provider and a benefit/broker consultant, and further wherein the central application allows the benefit/broker consultant via a user interface to provide one or more employer/clients access to all or certain portions of the employee benefits management data.

56. The system of claim 55, wherein the central application allows a employer/client, via an interface, to provide one or more employees thereof with access to all or certain portions of the employee benefits management data.

57. The system of claim 55, wherein the central application allows the benefit/broker consultant or the employer/client to be a plan creator, wherein the plan creator is allowed through a plan creator user interface to create a benefit plan using the employee benefits management plan data.

58. The system of claim 55, wherein the central application allows one or more of a benefit/broker consultant, an employer/client, an employee, and a benefit provider to create, delete or modify one or more portions of a benefit plan via a user interface.

59. The system of claim 55, wherein the central application allows one or more of a benefit/broker consultant, an employer/client, an employee, and a benefit provider to create, delete or modify one or more portions of demographic plan data via a user interface.

60. The system of claim 55, wherein the central application provides a graphical user interface to allow for input of demographic plan data, wherein the demographic plan data comprises at least one of employer/client and employee/dependent data, and further wherein the central application is operable to generate a benefit plan request for proposal comprising at least one benefit plan in conjunction with the demographic plan data.

61. The system of claim 60, wherein the central application is further operable to generate a plan request for proposal calculation response.

62. The system of claim 60, wherein the central application allows access to the benefit plan request for proposal by a benefit provider and provides the benefit provider a user interface for use in providing a request for proposal response.

63. The system of claim 55, wherein the central application permits the benefit broker consultant or an employer/client to perform personalized image branding of one or more user interfaces.

64. The system of claim 55, wherein the system further comprises an interface so as to provide access to one or more of the user portals using an internet connection.

65. The system of claim 55, wherein the central application comprises a plurality of presentation panels for use in providing information to a user, wherein the presentation panels are configured to provide at least one of user perceivable graphical elements and user interaction graphical elements.

66. The system of claim 65, wherein the central application further provides security authorization to control access of at least one of the benefit/broker consultant, an employer/client, and a benefit provider to at least portions of the presentation panels and/or the employee benefits management plan data.

67. The system of claim 66, wherein the central application provides view controllable security of the one or more presentation panels such that access to view or edit the presentation panels is restricted and data security such that user access to view or edit data of one or more presentation panels is restricted.

68. The system of claim 55, wherein the central application supports a benefit broker/consultant portal to allow at least one benefit broker/consultant access to the application, wherein the central application provides support for at least one extension of the benefit broker/consultant portal as at least one satellite portal, wherein the at least one satellite portal is separately configurable by the benefit broker/consultant to extend certain rights to one or more employer/clients for access to the application.

69. The system of claim 68, wherein the central application supports the provision of one or more child portals corresponding to the one or more employer/clients, wherein each child portal is an extension of the access extended to the respective one or more employer/clients and permits each of the one or more employer/clients to further extend access to the application to one or more additional users, wherein the one or more additional users comprise at least one employee of at least one of the one more employer/clients.