If I were to recap 2013, I would say it was year full of cautious optimism regarding the looming changes to health care legislated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the many implications - known and unknown - that will result from those changes.   

Here at Benefits Done Right we were sponges for any legislative and product updates and worked diligently to keep everyone informed through proactive client communications. We worked well in advance, evaluating each and every account to determine who was a candidate for "early renewal", thus delaying the effects of ACA eligibility requirement changes and rate increases.

That said, there was no amount of diligence or hard work that could control the chaos occurring with the carriers during the 4th quarter of 2013. Most were understaffed, all were overworked, and everyone struggled to handle the workload. In fact, many carriers are still working on 12/1 contract and eligibility changes due the massive volume of paperwork working its way through the system.

As the dust begins to settle, everyone in this industry is taking stock of the lessons learned from the events of this past year. I am certain those lessons have made everyone more prepared and better equipped moving forward into 2014. 

It is often the rough patches in life and business that teach us much more than our successes. Although I have never taken the high caliber of our clients for granted, our relationships were reinforced through the kindness and patience everyone extended to our team at Benefits Done Right. I am incredibly grateful to all of you.

In this new year, we will be rolling out more creative solutions to improve your experience working with us and make plan administration easier for all. One of these changes will be strongly encouraging all clients to take advantage of fillable electronic forms and applications to minimize data entry errors in the carriers' systems due to legibility issues with hand-written forms.

I know some of you still prefer paper, and we will continue to support you in that manner if you so desire. However, due to the increase in required documentation legislated under the ACA, we will be embarking once again on a journey toward a paperless workplace.

We will be making electronic documents and fillable forms available to you through your own secure online benefits portal to ensure ease of access. Portals will be set up for all clients as your plans renew in 2014. We hope you will support us in our commitment to this journey and jump on board the paperless train with us. 

Our team at Benefits Done Right embraces challenges and is committed to staying ahead of the constantly-shifting landscape of employee benefits. We look forward to facing this challenge together...let's make 2014 the best year ever!