Use this checklist after Open Enrollment closes to make sure benefit elections, payroll deductions, and carrier records are ready for the new plan year.
Whenever possible, complete these checks before approving the first payroll with the new deductions. If something doesn’t look right, contact the Customer Experience Team as early as possible and include the employee name, benefit plan, effective date, and expected versus actual deduction or enrollment details.
✅ Review payroll deductions and employer contributions
Before approving the first payroll of the new plan year, check that:
- New employee deductions and employer contributions are correct.
- Deductions from the previous plan year have ended as expected.
- New deductions start on the intended payroll and align with the benefit effective date.
- Waived, declined, or terminated coverage isn’t creating an unexpected deduction.
If an amount looks incorrect, contact the Customer Experience Team before approving payroll.
✅ Confirm carrier enrollment records
After Open Enrollment, review your carrier records and confirm that employees and their dependents are enrolled with the correct:
- Plan
- Coverage tier
- Effective date
- Dependent coverage, where applicable
Address any discrepancies as soon as possible to help prevent coverage gaps or incorrect carrier billing.
✅ Complete outstanding enrollment actions
Check that all required benefit actions are complete, including:
- Pending employee elections
- Supporting documentation for applicable life events or elections
- Incomplete enrollment requests
- Administrator approvals or outstanding follow-up actions
Complete outstanding items promptly so enrollment records and carrier files reflect the intended coverage.
✅ Monitor carrier feed processing
Confirm that carrier files are processing successfully after Open Enrollment and check for any outstanding errors or rejected files.
If a carrier connection isn’t live yet, continue using the agreed manual submission process until the connection is active. Keep copies of manual submissions and confirm receipt with the carrier when appropriate.
✅ Validate plan-year elections and the first carrier invoice
Review applicable account elections and limits to confirm they reflect the new plan year. This may include HSA, FSA, DCFSA, or other benefit-account elections.
Once the first carrier invoice is available, compare it with your enrollment records. Look for unexpected employees, missing dependents, incorrect coverage tiers, or differences in employer or employee costs.
If you need help reviewing a payroll, enrollment, or carrier-file discrepancy, contact the Customer Experience Team with the relevant details and supporting documentation.