Jeff Cox: Fully Digital Employee Benefits Provider That Partners With Advisors

Simply Benefits is Canada’s newest fully digital Employee Benefits provider that partners with advisors to deliver group health benefits 100% online to Canadian employers. We’re a technology-driven Third Party Payor (TPP) with a platform that provides three portals to enable Benefits Advisors to manage all client plans online, Employers to efficiently administer employee coverage, and Employees to view, update and use their benefits 24/7 via desktop or smartphone app. We make employee benefits simple.

Our Mission is to simplify Canadian employee health insurance through innovative technology for a better experience.

Tell us about yourself?

I have been an employee benefits advisor for over 15 years helping Canadian employers with the design, strategy and ongoing support of their group benefits plans. As an Advisor, I was frustrated by the labor-intensive, paper-based processes required by insurers and the lack of digital innovation in the Canadian employee health insurance industry. I set out to be a catalyst for change to advance technology in the benefits industry to make it easier for advisors, employers and employees to better understand and use their benefits to ultimately promote and achieve good health (which is good for both employee and employer).

If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

Don’t panic. Things have a way of working their way out.

What problem does your business solve?

1. As an Advisor, I found that many employees don’t fully understand their group benefits coverage or how to use them so we wanted to make benefits easier for them.
2. As an Advisor, my team and I spent alot of time helping employers understand their benefits and then train them to be an informed and effective plan administrator on behalf of their company. There are lots of rules and guidelines to remember with health insurance and if something is missed, then there can be serious consequences. So we wanted to give Employers a simple administration experience while helping them to educate themselves and their employees about their benefits and total compensation.
3. As an Advisor, you work with numerous employers with varying plan designs and unique needs. It was important to streamline the quoting, sales, implementation and administration process for Advisors so they can minimize time spent on paper-based and inefficient tasks so they can better focus their energy on better support clients and growing their business.

What is the inspiration behind your business?

I was frustrated by the labor-intensive, paper-based processes required by insurers and the lack of digital innovation in the Canadian employee health insurance industry so I set out to make a change.

What is your magic sauce?

1. We provide benefits 100% digitally from start to finish for both insured and ASO benefits plus health and lifestyle spending accounts all accessible from one easy solution.
2. We are technology-driven Third-Party Payor which means Advisors, and their clients, count on us to find and package the best health insurance products in the market into one easy solution and be that one-stop-shop for employers and employees. As a TPP we work with various insurers but we also adjudicate health and dental claims in-house with our own staff so we can control and provide an exceptional customer service experience.
3. We reduce the typical long, industry-standard, 8-week paper master application, onboarding and enrollment process for new employers groups to a few days. This means less administration hassle and time for both the Advisor and the Employer.
4. Employees can submit benefits claims from any device 24/7 and receive payment directly in their bank account in about 48 hours which is very fast in the industry.

What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?

Our goal is to fully digitize the employee benefits space in Canada and to become a household name and earn the respect from the advisor community and insurance industry.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

Raising Capital has been the biggest challenge so far. We have ambitious plans and are always looking for creative ways to continue moving forward.

How do people get involved/buy into your vision?

We would like Canadian benefits advisors to quote and place business with us so they can see first-hand how much easier it is for them, and their clients, to work with us compared to other Third-Party Administrators and insurers. To learn more, visit Simply Benefits.