Request for Information for:
Section 125 Insurance Plan
Roper Corporation
Submitted by:
New logo
Contact: Gary Hixson
Liberty National Life Insurance Company
X office phone
X cell phone
X fax
Statement of Qualifications
Liberty National Life Insurance Company is authorized to sell and market all products and provide administration of the Section 125 Insurance Plan outlined in this request for proposal. Our company, and all agents working to enroll the case, are licensed in the state of South Carolina. We have the ability to commence full operations within 30 days after notification of award.
Who we are
More than a century ago, a fraternal organization known as the Heralds of Liberty was formed and became the forerunner of our company. In 1929, we were incorporated as a stock company called Liberty National Life Insurance Company and launched into the stormy sea of the Great Depression, which only buoyed our determination to succeed. Liberty National is a wholly owned subsidiary of Torchmark Corporation (NYSE: TMK). TMK is one of the largest publicly held holding companies in the nation, specializing in life and health insurance.
Principal location and primary office address
Liberty National Life Insurance Company is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Address is 2001 Third Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35233. Phone number is (205) 325-4200. The primary contacts for this request for proposal are Mr. Tommy Clay and Mr. Gary Hixson from our Chattanooga, TN branch office. The branch office phone number is 423-485-9148. The branch office address is ##.
Product Experience
Liberty National has been in the worksite arena for the past four decades providing voluntary benefits and Section 125 products. Our most popular products offered include a Group Term Life product, Cancer and Intensive Care coverage. We are highly ranked among major insurance companies in the country and primarily provide life and supplemental health insurance to individuals, families and working Americans across the country. We continue to operate and be known as a low cost provider because of our efficiency. After 100 years, success hasn't spoiled the business proposition we offered at the very beginning: Value. What makes Liberty National Life unique is our longevity in the marketplace. We are not all things to all people. Rather, we focus on providing quality individual and worksite life/health products at an affordable price to individuals, couples and families.
Financial Stability/Industry Performance Ratings
Stability is an absolute essential in insurance. When selecting an insurance provider, customers want a company upon which they can depend to pay claims. Clients invest in a policy and expect that policy to perform when needed. For more than a century, Liberty National Life has been meeting the insurance needs of its customers. Proof of our stability is reflected in our industry ratings. Liberty National Life Insurance Company is rated by several financial rating agencies as shown below:
A.M. Best – A+ (Superior) as of 6/09 – Financial Size – Class X
Standard & Poor’s – AA- “Very Strong” as of 12/08
Moody’s – A1 as of 1/09
Fitch – AA (Very Strong) as of 6/08
Additionally, every year since 1995, Liberty National Life has been recognized as one of the Ward’s 50 Benchmark Group of Life and Health Insurers based on safety, consistency and performance.
Service Philosophy
Liberty National believes in one-on-one, local Agent service. Liberty National does not use an outside sub-contractor – we use licensed Liberty National Agents to explain the insurance coverage being purchased. Our Agents call on Liberty National customers regularly at home and at their place of employment to discuss their existing coverage and personal insurance needs.
Please note: It is a violation of our Privacy Policy to disclose the names of former clients/policyholders.
Organizational Responsibilities/Support
Liberty National has branch offices in more than 205 locations and more than 8,000 Sales Representatives. Each of these offices employs a Branch Manager, Unit Managers, and Agents and has an existing client base. For the Lexington County proposal, Peter Schettini is the Branch Manager and Nick Boeschen is the Unit Manager who will be responsible for ensuring that each County employee’s insurance needs are met. The Charleston, SC branch has 40 team members ready to serve Lexington County with their insurance needs. The other 10 Liberty branches in the state of South Carolina would be available to help enroll employees in our voluntary benefits program, if needed.
Customer Service
Service is often the distinction between a good and a great company. A great company goes the extra mile not just to sell a product, but also to establish a relationship with the customer. At Liberty National, we believe we are a great company, and we continuously strive to deliver superior service and customer convenience. We don’t just preach service – we practice it, as evidenced by our Performance Record below.
2008 Performance Record*
Total policies in force4,154,825
Total Claims Transactions 180,568
Policies Issued192,583
Customer Calls Serviced 469,283
Customer Calls Answered within 20 seconds90%
Turnaround Times in Calendar Days
Life10.43
Health8.33
All policies6.5
* Based on company statistics
Liberty National’s Customer Service department has 27 experienced representatives that handle incoming calls and assist our policyholders. Our policyholders will experience a live interaction with our customer service representatives. The policyholder will not have to experience an automated system when calling our customer service group. We provide answers to general policy inquiries, billing and claim information. Our business hours are Monday – Friday 7:30AM to 5:00PM Central Standard Time. Our toll free number is 1-800-333-0637.
The customer service group acts quickly to resolve escalated policyholder requests. Our representatives identify escalated issues by calculating the interval between the date of request and the current date. All requests should be processed within 10-15 business days, excluding complex claims processing. The representatives will use this rule and escalate the request if it is outside of the standard 10-15 business day window. Once identified by our customer service representatives, the supervisors are notified. Our supervisors are trained to resolve the issue within 24 hours, where applicable. If the issue is unable to be resolved by our customer service department, our supervisors have the appropriate department contacts to escalate matters for resolution. Our department supervisors and manager will continually follow-up with the policyholder to make sure they are provided with the most recent information.
Claims Experience
Prompt claim processing is the most important customer service we can provide. Dawn Mitchell, Vice President of the Policy Benefits Department will oversee the review of claims. Ms. Mitchell has a degree in Accounting from Oklahoma State University and is a Certified Public Accountant. All of her 22 years of work experience has been in a financial/accounting/audit role.
Understanding of Project
Our Liberty National representative handling your account will go over the billing process with the
bookkeeper prior to the billing date to ensure a smooth billing cycle. One of the biggest advantages
Liberty offers is that payroll deductions start the first pay period of the next month following the
enrollment period. This means immediately following the enrollment, the bookkeeper will receive
Payroll Deduction Authorization forms to begin the deduction process. The bookkeeper will have
a month to gather the deductions before Liberty National sends the first bill. We will resolve any
billing issues within 30 days of notification of any variances.
Liberty National’s billing process is on the 1st of each month for companies that pay their premiums
monthly. If the company chooses to have a payment other than monthly, we would send a billing
after each payment is received and applied. When the billing is received, any deletion of terminated employees or other corrections can be noted on our billing and returned with the check for payment.
Electronic funds transfer
Liberty National provides the convenience of electronic funds transfer. The bookkeeper simply
follows these two easy steps:
Step 1: When making a Direct Deposit (ACH) for your company to Liberty National, simply wire
the payment to the financial institution we provide to you upon awarding of the bid to us.
Step 2: Notify the following people prior to sending the ACH deposit through so they
can track payment to insure proper payment:
Remit to Email Address: and .
Authorizing person name: Jeanne Woodruff, Cash Manager
Contact telephone number: (205) 325-2595
Payroll Deduction Schedule
We want to make paying premiums as convenient for you and your employees as possible. Payroll
deductions payment can be any of these methods: Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Semi-Monthly, 4 Weeks, Monthly
Voluntary Supplemental Benefits Offered
For the Roper proposal, Liberty National Life would like to offer the following products: Cancer Care/Cancer Care Plus, Group Term Life, Career Life Plus, Modified Life Plan, Hospital Intensive Care, and Hospital Income. In the event the employee does not qualify for our Group Term Life product, we guarantee he/she can be issued a whole life policy with our Career Life Plus product. See product brochures for a review of benefits.
While we believe these policies are highly competitive, and more affordable than our competitors are offering in the marketplace, Liberty National is willing to enhance our offering by providing Accidental Death coverage to every employee and dependant.
This policy consists of $3,000 Accidental Death coverage each for the employee and spouse along with
$1,000 for each minor child. This program is at no cost until the end of the year, at which time
the premium is only $10 per year for the entire family. At the end of the first year, the cost for this
coverage is billed to their home and is separate from any insurance being offered through Lexington County. Employees are under no obligation to pay premiums on the $3,000 Accidental Death policy or continue coverage. They are provided this coverage at the time they meet with us whether or not they purchase additional products. Our experience is most will participate in our other offerings as well, due to the low cost of the coverage. We’ve also attached the Accidental Death brochure for your review.
Treatment of Issues
Liberty National is sensitive to our customers’ need for the enrollment process to run efficiently, by
taking the least amount of time to meet with employees. That’s why we meet with the supervisor
of the department and schedule a time convenient for each enrollment.
To help promote the enrollment, Liberty National would create and print an announcement letter
and provide copies to the bookkeeper for insertion in the last pay period envelopes prior to enrollment. This announcement letter would be on the County’s letterhead and signed by the appropriate person, and sent to all eligible employees announcing the insurance coverage being made available to them.
On the scheduled enrollment date, we then meet with the employees individually to answer any
questions they may have about the coverage and complete the application. The enrollment process
typically takes up to 15 minutes. We also have a Laptop Sales Presentation, which outlines the
need for coverage using facts/figures, helps detail specific product benefits and uses an electronic
application process to complete the sale. Upon policy approval, the Agent will deliver the policies
to the bookkeeper or contact person and a Policy Delivery Acknowledgement will be signed. The
bookkeeper/contact person will distribute the policies through the Institution’s normal method of
internal distribution.
Rather than calling your Benefits Administrator with questions about our products, at time of enrollment the customer will receive the Agent’s business card and contact information so that the customer can call the Agent at anytime to speak to them about product benefits, questions, claims, etc. Our Agents are local and just a phone call away.
When we enroll prospective customers we provide appropriate materials to explain the benefits of the product, and discuss the strength of the company behind the coverage. We will have a licensed Liberty National Agent meet with each employee to explain our products, complete the application, and provide a brochure.
Electronic Enrollment
The Liberty National electronic application cannot be submitted with missing information. Rates are calculated by the system and all forms required are submitted automatically. Use of this system reduces the possibility of human error and speeds up the issue process so the customer receives their policy promptly.
Attachments
Product Specifications
Attachment
Evaluation
Evaluation of providers will be based on the following criteria:
We are seeking a specialist firm that has focused on employee benefit enrollment and
benefit communications for large employers 500+ employees:
1. When was your firm incorporated?
Liberty National Life Insurance Company was incorporated in 1929.
2. How many clients has your firm enrolled?
Liberty National has 8,000 worksite clients (businesses, organizations, or government entities) with 543,403 payroll deduction policies in force (last reported 09-10).
We have experienced project outsourcing and maintain concerns regarding priority
treatment especially with data management and service support:
3. Provide an overview and confirm if your firm wholly owns and internally manages the following services:
a. Non-commissioned, counselors for face to face and call center enrollments?
Licensed insurance agents representing Liberty National handle enrollments in your facility. The Agents receive a commission on the insurance policies sold to your employees. Liberty National pays commission to the Agent.
b. Call center switch and reporting systems?
Liberty National’s Customer Service department has a dedicated team of experienced representatives who handle incoming calls and assist our policyholders. Our policyholders will experience a live interaction with our customer service representatives. The policyholder will not have to experience an automated system when calling our customer service group. We provide answers to general policy inquiries, billing and claim information. Our business hours are Monday – Friday 7:30AM to 5:00PM Central Standard Time. Our toll free number is 1-800-333-0637.
c. IVR enrollment systems?
IVR is not in used at this time. Liberty National processes most enrollments on the Company’s electronic application system, eApp. eApps are uploaded from the Agent’s computer to the Home Office for policy issue.
d. Web based enrollment systems?
Online enrollment is not supported at this time
e. Benefit administration systems?
Our Liberty National representative handling your account will go over the billing process with the bookkeeper prior to the billing date to ensure a smooth billing cycle. One of the biggest advantages Liberty offers is that payroll deductions start the first pay period of the next month following the enrollment period. This means immediately following the enrollment, the bookkeeper will receive Payroll Deduction Authorization forms to begin the deduction process. The bookkeeper will have a month to gather the deductions before Liberty National sends the first bill. We will resolve any billing issues within 30 days of notification of any variances.
Liberty National’s billing process is on the 1st of each month for companies that pay their premiums monthly. If the company chooses to have a payment other than monthly, we would send a billing after each payment is received and applied. When the billing is received, any deletion of terminated employees or other corrections can be noted on our billing and returned with the check for payment.
f. Online reporting capabilities?
g. Payroll and vendor EDI feed capabilities?
h. Quality assurance and disaster recovery systems?
i. Dependent audit capabilities?
j. Employee portal capabilities?
k. Video overlay capabilities?
l. Graphic design and copy writing capability?
Liberty National has a twenty-two member Marketing Department team including Graphic Artists and Writers.
m. Benefit Statement design and printing?
Liberty National designs, prints and assembles all policies and ID cards for the policies your employee’s purchase.
n. Fulfillment center?
Policies are produced by Liberty National and are delivered to your facility for distribution to your employees that purchased policies.
Firm Qualifications:
4. Provide a brief history of your firm.
More than a century ago, a fraternal organization known as the Heralds of Liberty was formed and became the forerunner of our company. In 1929, we were incorporated as a stock company called Liberty National Life Insurance Company and launched into the stormy sea of the Great Depression, which only buoyed our determination to succeed.
Today Liberty National is a wholly owned subsidiary of Torchmark Corporation (NYSE: TMK). TMK is one of the largest publicly held holding companies in the nation, specializing in life and health insurance for individuals, families and working Americans across the country. Headquarters is in McKinney, Texas.
We continue to operate and be known as a low cost provider because of our efficiency. After 100 years, success hasn't spoiled the business proposition we offered at the very beginning: Value.
5. List your senior management team members by function, and years tenure with your firm.
Anthony McWhorter, Chief Executive Officer (Since 1987)
Andrew King, President & Chief Marketing Officer. (Since 1987)
Brenda Martin, Senior Vice President. (Since 1971)
Luke Gilliam, Vice President (Since 2008)
6. List your middle management team members by function, and years tenure with yourfirm.
Tommy Clay is a licensed insurance agent representing Liberty National Life Insurance Company as a Branch Manager. Mr. Clay has been a loyal Liberty National representative for # years.
7. Provide a staff model for this enrollment project.