BOSTON (April 10, 2012) —HighRoads, the industry leader in SaaS-enabled (software as a service) employer health care compliance and benefits management, announced today that it has partnered with bswift, a national leader in software and services for employee benefits administration. Together, the companies are automating the creation of and change management for required Summary of Benefits & Coverage (SBC) and Summary Plan Description (SPD) documents to assure compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and Affordable Care Act (ACA).
SBCs are newly mandated documents required by health care reform that provide consumers with a specific and concise summary of their plan benefits. SPDs are also a federally required summary of plan benefits that must be distributed to employees, retirees and beneficiaries. These documents are important and required materials for employees reviewing their benefits plans and making critical decisions on whether to change their coverage. The ACA and the Department of Labor hold employers of all sizes equally accountable for complying with SBC and SPD requirements.
“The increased regulatory environment as a result of health care reform impacts small, midsize, and large employers equally,” said Michael Byers, CEO, HighRoads. “However, most smaller employers are out of compliance due to lack of resources. The HighRoads partnership with bswift now makes SBC and SPD compliance accessible and easy for small and mid-sized companies that may not have the in-house resources to develop the compliant materials that are required of them.”
“Our partnership with HighRoads now makes benefits administration, annual enrollment and compliance automation for mid-market companies available from a single vendor,” said Rich Gallun, CEO, bswift. “Companies of all sizes now have access to the same, proven compliance automation solution used by Fortune 500 companies. No longer do they need to fret over how they will become compliant with health care reform mandates.”
With this new partnership, bswift will now offer HighRoads’ QuickSPD, ACA Compliance Portal and full SBC and SPD management solutions. HighRoads’ QuickSPD solution is an intuitive online service that quickly develops ERISA-compliant SPDs for small and midsize businesses. For more information, please visit: www.bswift.com.
About HighRoads
The world’s leading employers choose HighRoads to gain complete control over their health care costs and compliance. HighRoads’ SaaS-based solutions provide employers with complete benefits management capability, including benefits plan information and pricing, competitive benefits benchmarks, and complete benefits management. The privately-held company is headquartered in Woburn, MA. For more information, visit www.HighRoads.com.
About bswift
Based in Chicago, bswift offers software and services that streamline benefits, HR and payroll administration. More than 1 million consumers tap bswift’s state-of-the-art Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) solutions to significantly reduce administrative costs and time-consuming paperwork, making life easier for HR staff and employees alike. For more information, visit www.bswift.com.