Create a Basic Life Plan - Knowledge Base | BerniePortal

How to Create a Basic Life Plan

After you create a Life plan (Basic Life), set premiums on the Premiums tab. When creating the plan shell, select Life as the Benefit Type. To create the plan shell first, follow How To Create Plans in BerniePortal.

Who this is for

Employers with Benefits enabled, Brokers, Agencies, General Agencies, Benefit Providers, and Service Team Members with write access can create Life plans and set premiums on plans they can edit.

To set Basic Life premiums:
  1. Create a Life plan, or open an existing Life plan from BenefitsPlans. After you save a new plan, BerniePortal opens the Premiums tab. For an existing plan, open it and select Premiums.
  2. Under Determination, select a Basic Life Approach:
    • Flat Amount - Composite
    • Flat Amount - Age Banded
    • % of Salary - Composite
    • % of Salary - Age Banded
  3. Complete the remaining Determination fields that appear for your approach (for example salary-change timing, proration, and coverage rounding), then complete Employee Premiums:.
  4. Optionally enable AD&D: and/or Spouse / Child(ren): and complete those sections.
  5. Complete Employee Benefit Reduction Levels and AGE CALCULATIONS.
  6. Select Save Changes.
Determination

Select Basic Life Approach, then complete any additional determination fields that apply:
  • When will salary change affect plan premiums?At salary change effective date, First of the month following salary change, or At plan anniversary date
  • How is proration calculated?Based on exact number of days or Based on 30 days (when salary-based coverage takes effect at the salary change effective date)
  • What rounding rules should be applied to the coverage amount? (Coverage will be rounded to the $1,000).Standard, Always round up, Always round down, or No rounding
Employee Premiums:

Enter coverage and premium values for the approach you selected:
  • Flat Amount - Composite and Flat Amount - Age Banded: enter Coverage Amount
  • % of Salary - Composite and % of Salary - Age Banded: enter Coverage Amount (% of salary)
  • Enter Purchase Increment (cost per) and Premiums (values are entered per month)
  • For age-banded approaches, complete each Age Range row (use Add new age range as needed). Tobacco Premiums and Gender Premiums appear when those settings apply
AD&D:

Enable AD&D: when the plan includes AD&D, then complete the AD&D coverage and premium fields that match your Basic Life Approach.

Spouse / Child(ren):

Enable Spouse / Child(ren): when dependents are covered. Select How is the cost of dependent coverage determined?:
  • Priced Together
  • Priced Separately
Then enter the dependent fields that appear, such as Spouse Coverage Amount, Child(ren) Coverage Amount (6 Months +, 14 Days - 6 Months, < 14 Days), Purchase Increment (cost per), and Premiums.

Employee Benefit Reduction Levels

Enter each Age Range and Percentage Reduction row. Use Add new age range as needed.

AGE CALCULATIONS

Complete age settings for:
  • EmployeeActual age or Current year - Birth year, plus How should a new hire's age be calculated? (Age at effective date or Age at most recent renewal date)
  • SpouseActual age, Employee age, or Current year - Birth year, plus the new-hire age rule
COVERAGE AMOUNT MINIMUM / MAXIMUM:

For % of Salary - Composite and % of Salary - Age Banded, complete Minimum Amount and Maximum Amount for Employee (and for AD&D when enabled).

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