Case Studies

The plan on the screen
was the plan payroll ran

ADPTotalSource

Role

Senior Product Manager, Platform

Timeline

May 2018 - Apr 2021

Key Skills

Benefits platforms
Plan configuration
Payroll sync
Carrier integrations

ADP TotalSource is the PEO small and midsize employers use to offer a national benefits program. The book was $3.2B. I owned Plan Design Modeling. The employer configured coverage. Payroll deducted that plan, and the partners ran it.

Employer admin

Sets the coverage

Plan design

The saved plan

Payroll

Deduction matches

Gallagher and True Benefit ran the plan.MyLife Advisors took the questions.

Gallagher

Broker

True Benefit

Amwins, broker

MyLife Advisors

A person answers

The employer admin sets coverage in plan design. Payroll deducts that same plan. Gallagher and True Benefit ran the plan. MyLife Advisors took the questions.

About 20

of 32 carriers enlisted

Cigna and UnitedHealthcare on health. MetLife on ancillary. Then every carrier that could take the file.

The rest

stayed off the integration

The population was 32. Some systems were too old to integrate. The release shipped with the carriers that could take a modern file.

Project Overview

I took Plan Design Modeling from a whiteboard architecture to a shipped product, then kept shipping. The release that was live when I left had in-admin plan configuration, a decision-support wizard, payroll sync when an election or a rule changed, and a handoff to MyLife Advisors.

The first release went to both brokers, Gallagher and True Benefit (Amwins), and to three carriers. ADP described the approach as patent-pending in 2019. That filing sat above my job.

Key Challenges

  • A worksheet plan and the payroll deduction were often two different plans.
  • An election or a rule change had to move payroll in the same release as the plan.
  • Employers needed a comparison a broker could walk through: customization, price, and fit.
  • Some questions belong with MyLife Advisors, the people on ADP's benefits line.

Solution & Approach

Plan configuration

Modeling lived in the admin product. The plan the employer saved was the plan Gallagher, True Benefit, and the carrier received.

Payroll sync

An election or a rule change moved the deduction with it. Payroll ran the plan just saved.

Decision-support wizard

The employer compared designs on customization, price, and best fit. Completion rose 30%. Decisions got 40% faster. The broker still walked the client through the choice.

MyLife Advisors

A question that needed a person went to ADP's benefits line, where an advisor answered it.

Results & Impact

  • Adoption rose 35%

    The launch came in 60 days early.

  • Completion up 30%

    Decisions in the wizard got 40% faster.

  • About 20 of 32 carriers

    Enlisted before I left. The rest could not take the integration.

  • Both brokers live

    Gallagher and True Benefit (Amwins), from the first release.

Key Learnings

Enlist the carriers that can integrate

The book held 32 carriers. About 20 could take a modern file. The release went to those carriers and left the oldest systems off.

The deduction is the plan

If payroll lags a rule change, the employer is running two plans. The sync made the saved plan and the deduction the same record.