US 7,584,107 B2Granted

Defined contribution benefits tool

AssigneeAccenture Global Services Limited

InventorsLawrence B. Leisure, Jeffrey L. Huxley, Renee J. Brown, Heather M. Abodeely, David R. Dahle, Cecil R. Dearborne, Amy Farkas, Evelyn G. Goodfriend, Laurie H. Maiser, Amie A. Ludwig, David Rey, Melinda W. Steinmetz, Glenn A. Stolar, Erik C. Swanson, Joseph E. Villa

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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.

Claims60

Dependent claims

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.

13 more elements

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.

13 more elements

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.

13 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.