Benefits Accountant - Human Resources - J04040 - 12450

Insurance Benefits Administrator

Responsible for administering the employees' insurance benefits as to the accounting for and managing complaints. Responsible for managing the reconciling of the child protective services account. Performs other accounting duties.

Reports to : Supervisor, Payroll

Works closely with other county employees, insurance agents and agencies.

Essential duties and responsibilities include the following :

Participates in divisional staff meetings. Performs such other duties as may be assigned.

Manages the detailed analysis and comparison reports of the reimbursements received for foster parent payments, reviews activity reports on same.

Coordinates with the State Child Protective Services Department. Facilitates prompt reimbursement. Maintains an aged accounting of the payments not reimbursed.

Prepares insurance billing reconciliations and ensures correctness of general ledger balances.

Approves the payment vouchers for final disbursement processing.

Problem resolution facilitator between employees and third-party administration.

Serves as the departments contact with insurance representatives, manages the various situations that may arise with insurance vendor relations.

Serves as the departments coordinator with the risk manager and personnel department during open enrollment.

Responsible for maintaining a subsidiary journal and ledger on the cafeteria plan account; reviews the bank reconciliation prepared by the third-party administrator; and proposes journal entries for general ledger recording.

Responsible for maintaining sufficient general knowledge of insurance coverage and to perform responsibilities, duties, and thorough knowledge of internal policies and procedures.

Monitors the overall employee benefit operations as to employee satisfaction; identifies and reports repetitive complaints to Payroll, Supervisor; responsible for evaluating complaints and bringing the serious or non-compliant complaints to the attention of management; suggests solutions.

Prompts and coordinates with the GL systems accountant and senior payroll assistant for updating the common codes for insurance rate changes.

Working with the third-party administrator to fulfill the COBRA regulations to every employee / official separated from service due to a qualifying event as they are reported on the Personnel Changes Report.

Maintains files on COBRA participants and assists the participants with enrolling, premium payments, and problems concerning coverages.

Performs the duties of maintaining the records for employee benefits files in accordance with proper state retention requirements.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and / or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and / or Experience : Bachelors degree in accounting or business administration with emphasis on accounting, plus at least two years of accounting; or any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities.

Language Skills : Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.

Mathematical Skills : Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference. Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.

Reasoning Ability : Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

Other Skills and Abilities : Knowledge of accepted accounting practices and legal requirements; ability to operate a calculator, typewriter, computer terminal and personal computer using word processing and spreadsheet programs; ability to work accurately with numerical detail, to perform accounting procedures in an orderly manner, and to analyze, consolidate, and interpret accounting data in a clear and concise form; ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with other county employees, officials and the public.

Physical Demands : The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and use hands to finger, handle, or feel. The employee frequently is required to talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and / or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and / or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and ability to adjust focus. Job requires a significant amount of inputting data into the computer as well as proofing the data entry.

Work Environment : The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.