Understanding the five myths will help you define expectations for your upcoming online service initiatives. On-Line Enrollment ultimately will be paperless, but today, few insurance carriers have the infrastructure to receive the enrollment data electronically. The good news is that more carriers are moving toward acceptance of electronic transmission of data, and every day, online enrollment vendors are working with carriers to establish the missing technical link. HR professionals interested in true online enrollment should direct their business to carriers who accept electronic data. Nothing will get the carriers' attention faster than lost business.
Employees can use electronic signatures to enroll online.
Not true One of the significant hurtles to online enrollment, even with the recent passage of the digital signature law in June, is the requirement of an actual signature on the enrollment form. Some legal departments of insurance carriers will still require signed forms from employees for some lines of coverage. Furthermore, there is no foolproof method of electronic signature that is suitable for wide public adoption. Even the president signed the bill into law the old-fashion way with a pen. You should expect that at the end of a typical enrollment process employees will be required to print out the completed forms, sign and send them to HR to keep on record.