Nov. 1, 2017

2017 Small Group New Business Technology Updates – Year End Review

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) is committed to our producers and we continue to invest in new processes, tools and technology to help you better manage and build your business. As we move towards year end, let’s review some of the enhancements and resources that became available in 2017.

New Small Group Business Document Submission Is Online
To expedite new business processing for Small Group employers with 1-50 employees, we enhanced the ACA Small Group Enrollment Tool to accept the required sold group documents online. Adoption of online enrollment is nearing 100 percent because of the benefits that the tool provides.

The Small Group Enrollment Tool User Guide and Job Aid are available.

Small Group Initial Binder Payments Went Electronic
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), a feature of the ACA Small Group Enrollment Tool to secure one-time binder premium payments for new accounts, was adopted by most groups.

For enrollment effective dates on or after Nov. 1, EFT is the only payment method to submit Small Group binder payments.

Information about using EFT is in the following updated resources:
User Guide
Job Aid

The Import Census Template for Small Group Enrollment Was Enhanced
The Census Import Template now features new enhancements to increase the efficiency and ease of importing census data to the ACA Small Group Enrollment Tool.

The enhanced census template will be available on Blue Access for Producers^SM under Group Training and Admin in the ACA Small Group Enrollment training material section.

The reference guide provides step-by-step instructions for entering census data into the Census Import Template, and for uploading your final census into the ACA Small Group Enrollment Tool.

The ACA Small Group Enrollment Tool Was Enhanced to Import Data from DocuSign
The ACA Small Group Enrollment Tool was enhanced to import completed and signed sold group documents from DocuSign. This expedited the enrollment process significantly by eliminating repetitive data entry.

A Reference Guide is available with step-by-step instructions, including an overview of the mapping fields and resources for technical support.

Small Group Quoting Went 100 Percent Online
In the third quarter of 2017, the ACA Small Group Quoting Tool, featured within eSales Tools, replaced all other methods for external quote generation. Producers can now generate new, and revise existing, quotes quickly and effectively.

The ACA Small Group Quoting Tool User Guide provides additional information and support for users.