SPD Software

[Guest Patrick Martino]

What software do people use to create SPDs? I have investigates the Corbel software and am looking for other options. Does everyone just cut and paste?

[Guest benji]

McKay Hochman has an internet based program that can create documents, SPD's and Administrative/Legal forms. The SPD's are created within minutes after entering the data.

Call Steve Wagoner at (518) 862-7274, he can do a demo over the internet for you.

[Guest GAnderson]

Authoria Inc. offers a knowledge application to help you generate SPDs as well. Once the application contains your plan's data it takes only minutes to generate a SPD which can be online or on paper. For more information go to Authoria.com.

[Guest Chuck Miller]

There are three questions I have to ask about using any SPD software:

1) Will the product be compliant with all current and future ERISA regualtions?

2) Will the product allow you to input all plan benefits and provisions?

3) Will the product be useful when it's finished, i.e., will it be useable by employees?

In my experience, the answer to these questions is: maybe, maybe, and unlikely.

It's for these reasons that most companies rely on outside consultants to craft SPDs to ensure they will be compliant, accuarate, AND useable.

If your goal is to simply create an SPD that gets you legal, then using a program may work for you. If having an SPD that is created for your employees and used by them, the progarm will not work and a benefit communications professional should be hired.

Chuck Miller

Moderator

Disclaimer: in these post Enron/Worldcom days, transparancy is important. So, while I am the Moderator of this page, I am also a benefit communications consultant whose firm creates SPDs.

[Guest GAnderson]

1. Q: Will the product be compliant with all current and future ERISA regulations?

A: The answer is not maybe but a definitive yes! Authoria keeps all of its products (eSPD and HR) current with the regulations. We release legislative updates annually. In addition, the Authoria eSPD product also enables the client to “own” the SPD. In other words, they can change as needed to be more or less (which has been my experience when clients modify SPDs provided by SPD providers).

2. Q: Will the product allow you to input all plans benefits and provisions?

A: Again not maybe but YES! Authoria HR eSPD Health and Welfare Knowledge Application is designed to handle even the most complex plan designs, Authoria HR eSPD captures your plan information by walking you through a series of questions about your plan offerings, then dynamically organizes and produces the information online in easily navigable PDF files. Our current release supports accidental death & dismemberment , dental, life, long term disability and medical plans.

3. Q: Will the product be useful when it’s finished, i.e., will it be useable by employees?

A: YES!!! The Authoria HR eSPD Health and Welfare Knowledge Application allows you to create, maintain, and distribute electronic summary plan descriptions (eSPD’s) to satisfy ERISA requirements more efficiently and effectively than ever before - online as well as on paper. Employers can continue to distribute the SPD to employees who find paper the more useable form or they can distribute online. Authoria eSPD can be readily accessed through a corporate portal.

[mroberts]

I'd be weary of this kind of software as well. Sorry to be skeptical GAnderson, however, I used to create contracts for a large insurance company and whenever you input information into the checklist, what was usually spit out was about 80% correct. Things probably have gotten better by now, however, I wouldn't want to take the chance of creating my own booklets and being on the hook for what's in them. I can't tell you how many court cases I read about where the court sides with te plaintiff because of ambiguity in the SPD/booklet certificate.

If you're fully-insured, by all means have the carrier create the booklet cert. If you're self-insured, once again, have the carrier or TPA create the booklets since it will be the one on the hook if someone drags you to court with respect to something in the booklet.

[Guest GAnderson]

As with any SPD they should be reviewed by legal counsel regardless of who created them. We are not saying that this step is not needed when employing Authoria eSPD. Every client knows, if they do not know by know, that an SPD must be reviewed before it is released. All we are responding to is the issue of software that generates and supports SPDs in an efficient manor that also enables employee access.

[mroberts]

And why exactly would an employer rack of thousands of dollars in fees for a lawyer to review the booklet when a carrier can create it for free, while assuming 100% liability concerning what's printed in it? Additionally, you would probably have to contact an employee benefits lawyer, since most companies do not have one on staff, and hope that a competent one is picked. Exactly how much is your software?

[Guest Chuck Miller]

To Ms. Anderson:

You seem to have missed the point of my original posting, that creating an SPD is one thing, having an SPD that employees will use is quite another.

Even if it's compliant and reasonably accurate, if it's not created properly, produced in a style that employees don't find intimidating or unreadable, it's wasted ink or bytes.

If all you want is something to give out to employees so think you've covered your ERISA obligations, by all means go and buy your software. But since much ERISA litigation is not based upon accuracy but lack of understanding of a plan on the part of participants, having a user-friendly document is of prime importance.

And in all your verbage about your product, participants seems to have fallen through the cracks. I've seen many products that win awards, and employees disregard.

To Mr. Roberts:

The biggest reason to use a carrier or mutual fund complex SPD is cost< they are usually free. But you do get what you pay for.

Employers don't use carrier documents because they are unreadable, many times innaccurate as to the benefits they are trying to describe, and at times non-compliant with ERISA.

Carrier documents are all boilerplate... the same for every insured. As I wrote above: "Even if it's compliant and reasonably accurate, if it's not created properly, produced in a style that employees don't find intimidating or unreadable, it's wasted ink or bytes."

You may have a document that conforms to ERISA, but not one that conforms to needs of employees.

[Guest eviefuchs]

I am sorry if you think you missed Ms. Anderson’s point. I do agree with you that SPD’s are legally required documents that are unless properly written and presented to participants result in a lack of understanding. However, I did not think the topic thread was “How do you write an SPD that is compliant and user friendly?” This as we all know is not an easy task since each audience is different even within the same company. The question I thought was is there SPD generating software. And you then went on to question the ability for software to produce compliant SPDs, support all plan benefits and provisions and in the end be useable by employees. There are software programs that address points 1 and 2 well in conjunction with review, which is needed even if the SPD is generated by a consultant. As far as useable by the participant, to be fair this is unlikely in any production environment if again the SPD is not reviewed. In today’s software any document can be customized to meet it’s audience-needs better.

And yes I also work for Authoria, but my response is not based on this.

[Guest Chuck Miller]

To Ms. Fuchs:

You are quite right when you say the question the originator has was about SPD software. As the moderator, I've let Ms. Anderson write at length about the advantages of Authoria software. Also, as the moderator and someone who's written and edited hundereds of SPDs, I felt I had the duty to illustrate the limitations of SPD software.

I am sure if the originator is only looking for SPD software, Authoria will be getting a call.