The Nava Benefits App is changing the employee benefits experience
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Donald DeSantis wants to #fixhealthcare by making benefits more accessible and affordable for both companies and their employees. In his role as Chief Product Officer at Nava Benefits, he’s working toward that goal by developing innovative solutions that put benefits information right at employees’ fingertips with the Nava Benefits App. In this interview, Donald shares the inspiration behind the Nava Benefits App, discusses the latest industry trends, and provides valuable insights into the power of technology in the benefits landscape.
What excites you most about the Nava Benefits App?
We’re on this mission in healthcare, which is incredibly ambitious and complex. But it gets a lot more approachable when you focus on helping individuals and their day-to-day issues. The Nava Benefits App helps users understand their benefits, find doctors, and navigate complex billing issues. Every incremental update we add to the app contributes to this mission, and it's incredibly rewarding to see the impact it’s already having.
What does the Nava Benefits App do for HR leaders?
The Nava Benefits App gives time back to HR teams. HR professionals spend an average of 3 hours per week answering benefits questions from their employees. Common questions include ordering ID cards and finding in-network doctors, but periodically, more complex issues come up — like healthcare bills, prescriptions, and pre-authorizations for care.
The app provides employees a convenient way to access things like ID cards and to find in-network doctors. And for the complex issues, our team of benefits advocates take a hands-on approach to make sure employees get the care they need without overpaying..
Another common problem HR teams encounter is that employees don’t remember what benefits they have, let alone how to use them. The app fixes this. When employees have all of their benefits on their phone, they use them more. This results in an appreciation of those benefits that wasn’t there before.
What does the Nava Benefits App do for employees?
The Nava Benefits App makes it easy to navigate the healthcare system with confidence and ease. This starts by putting all of their benefits information in their pocket. But it includes more complex things. We provide real-time tracking of their deductible usage. We automatically update their insurance ID cards with the latest ID numbers and carrier information. We make it simple to find an in-network doctor or dentist, even across different insurance carriers and plans.
What if they get a surprise bill or are denied a needed medical procedure? They can reach out to our team of benefits advocates using the app. This team has a direct line into the insurance carriers and knows how to resolve tricky insurance issues. Every month we save employees thousands — or sometimes tens of thousands — of dollars through this service. Nearly half of Americans have some form of outstanding medical debt today. We’re working to reverse that.
What makes the Nava Benefits app different from what other brokers offer?
Most brokers don’t offer much more than an email address or their cell phone number. Let’s put aside that category of brokers and focus on brokers who do recognize the value technology can bring to employee benefits. These brokers often bring in a third-party product or something they’ve white-labeled. What HR teams experience in this situation is a painful setup and integration, ongoing administrative burden, and support teams that don’t understand their benefits plans.
We’re different. Our app integrates with your HRIS and insurance carriers. This means a faster time to deployment, zero administrative burden for HR teams, and accurate information for your employees. Our team of benefits advocates are staffed by full-time Nava employees who understand your benefits offering. This team leverages our strong relationships with insurance carriers to resolve issues quickly.
And best of all, the Nava Benefits App is free. We don’t charge anything extra to our clients or their employees for access to the app or our team of benefits experts. I don’t know of anything else out there like it.
What’s next for the Nava Benefits app?
We're excited about the upcoming plan recommendation feature. Every year, employees choose which medical plan they want to enroll in. But they’re flying totally blind. People often choose a plan with inadequate coverage or one that forces them to find new doctors. It’s a disaster.
Our new recommendation feature will fix this. First, it will look back at how much healthcare an employee used this year — actual dollars spent. Then it will factor in how much they’re likely to spend next year. It will consider which of their doctors are in and out-of-network across the plans their company offers.
The tool will search across the provider networks and crunch the numbers on the expected healthcare spend. Then, it will show employees the different scenarios for each plan available to them — what their out of pocket will be, how much they’ll pay for premiums, and which doctors are available to them. We’ll highlight the recommended plan.
Choosing a health insurance plan is probably the biggest financial decision most people make each year. We’re really excited about helping people make more informed choices so they can keep their doctors and save some money along the way.
Ready to improve your employee benefits experience? Learn how the Nava Benefits app can help today!