During Open Enrollment in late November and early December, approximately 2,000 employees made over 3,000 changes to their benefits using the BenChoice telephone enrollment system, according to the Benefits Office.
The largest number of changes occurred in health insurance and annual enrollments in the Flexible Reimbursement Account Plan (FRAP). Employees used the phone system to make 1,000 changes in health coverage, and 1,300 individuals elected to save taxes on medical and dependent care expenses in 1997 by enrolling in FRAP.
There were 600 changes to dental and life insurance coverage. Slightly over 200 employees took advantage of tax-deferred retirement savings opportunities by increasing their contributions to the Supplemental 401(k) Plan; these individuals will also benefit from the dollar-for-dollar match that MIT makes to their accounts.
Use of the BenChoice telephone enrollment system helped the Benefits Office provide improved service by decreasing the amount of staff time needed to process changes and increasing the time available for staff to counsel employees about their options.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on February 5, 1997.
