Human Resources
Outsourcing Portions of Benefits Services
To the University Community:

The Division of Human Resources is pleased to announce that the Benefits Office has partnered with Hewitt Associates for the administration and service delivery of the University's health and welfare benefits. Hewitt Associates, a market leader in the field of benefits delivery and administration, has been involved in the servicing of the University's benefits program since 1986. We have decided to expand this partnership with the following goals in mind:

  • to better meet the needs of HR customers (Penn employees) by improving the quality, timeliness and consistency of benefits service delivery;
  • to achieve the cost-containment goals of the Agenda for Excellence; and
  • to enable HR staff to focus more on the strategic work around the University's benefits programs including benefits planning, design and ongoing legal monitoring, analysis and reporting.

Our current benefits administration involves a high volume of paperwork processing. Hewitt's state-of-the-art technology and regular access to training resources will enable us to streamline this processing and ensure that we meet constantly changing compliance requirements. More importantly, these technology and training resources will enhance the quality of service delivery to you.

Enhanced quality of service delivery means your questions and requests will be handled in a more timely, accurate, up-to-date and consistent manner. Specifically, Hewitt will service our medical, prescription drug, dental, and group life insurance programs, as well as our health care and dependent care spending accounts. Starting on Monday, October 12, 1998, you will be able to access a central benefits call center dedicated to Penn to request information on these benefits. We will send more details (including the toll-free benefits call center number) to your home mailbox in the coming week.

Penn is committed to working with you during this transition with the ultimate goal of providing the best benefits service delivery possible. As with all change, though, the transition will require some flexibility and adaptability within all of us. We expect great long-term results and look forward to our partnership with Hewitt as a way to serve you better.

--John J. Heuer, Vice President for Human Resources


Almanac, Vol. 45, No. 4, September 22, 1998

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