The Aspen Group Streamlines Multi-Entity Benefits Administration With Benepass

Background

The Aspen Group (TAG) is one of the largest and most trusted retail healthcare business support organizations in the U.S., providing support to more than 20,000 team members across multiple business lines—from its flagship Aspen Dental brand to animal health and beyond. With more than 1,400 locations nationwide, TAG operates through a complex, multi-entity structure designed to support a diverse range of healthcare services.

This structure creates unique challenges for benefits administration. While each entity has distinct financial and operational requirements, TAG is committed to delivering a seamless and unified pre-tax benefits experience for all team members.

Recognizing the need for a more flexible, scalable solution

“We had already lost confidence at that point and really were on the cusp of having to make a decision if we needed to change vendors.” - Stephanie Brazil, Director of Benefits and Workforce Support Services

After partnering with a legacy provider that couldn’t meet their needs, TAG moved to what they thought would be a modern solution. Unfortunately, new challenges emerged:

Administrative friction included:

• File integration issues with Workday
• Limited reporting capabilities across multiple entities
• Inability to handle custom funding requirements for separate business units

Team member experience issues included:

• Long response times to inquiries
• Frequent card denials, including embarrassing situations where cards were declined at TAG’s own Aspen Dental facilities
• Lack of transparency in claims processing
• Burdensome HSA rollovers when transferring between brands, treating internal moves as if team members were leaving the company entirely

“How embarrassing is it as an organization to have your card declined at your own facilities that you're trying to provide care to your team members?” Stephanie noted.

In October 2024, right in the middle of open enrollment, TAG received just one week’s notice that their current vendor was changing banking relationships. This would require moving all HSA accounts to a new bank through a bulk transfer process. With the organization already managing open enrollment and year-end planning, TAG now faced the challenge of standing up a new vendor before January 1, 2025.

Transitioning to a modern, user-friendly pre-tax experience

“It’s molding to the needs that we had as opposed to having a cookie-cutter option that is just being presented that you have to conform to.” - Stephanie Brazil, Director of Benefits and Workforce Support Services

Stephanie turned to her network of benefits professionals, specifically seeking recommendations from colleagues managing complex organizations within the Workday ecosystem. The search led her to Benepass.

Key differentiators included:

1. Real-time product demonstration: Stephanie saw the system’s capabilities live, including Workday integrations and backend processing, demonstrating confidence in the technology.
2. Multi-entity funding flexibility: Benepass could accommodate TAG’s unique requirement to fund pre-tax accounts from multiple bank accounts while maintaining a unified team member experience. Company A doesn’t want to pay for Company B’s bills,” Stephanie explained. “We needed the ability to pull funds from different operating accounts for each entity while keeping the population in one instance.”
3. Custom reserve management: Rather than forcing TAG into a cookie-cutter approach, Benepass worked with their finance team to establish a reserve structure aligned with their operating model and pay dates. “You guys were able to support both ways, pushing funds and pulling funds, which is pretty unique in the space from my experience,” Stephanie said.
4. Workday integration expertise: Benepass demonstrated deep technical knowledge of how their integration would work with TAG’s complex Workday setup.

Embracing benefits that are delivered without a hitch

“Both teams put a lot of emotion and pride into our ability to do this together. We knew with the collaboration and communication and really being in lockstep together that as long as we supported each other through it, we were going to do it.” - Stephanie Brazil, Director of Benefits and Workforce Support Services

Benepass provided TAG with an implementation manager and dedicated resources who kicked off the process with a defined project plan and weekly check-ins throughout the transition. The 75-day implementation included:

• Custom communications for team members
• Workday integration configuration
• FSA and Commuter balance transfers
• HSA bulk transfer coordination with multiple stakeholders
• Shortened blackout period to minimize team member disruption
• Dedicated support team for transition questions

“Initially, what was presented as a blackout period, I was a little firm that we had to do better,” Stephanie said. "And we did. We figured it out for the benefit of our team members, which was really important to me.”

Since going live in mid-November 2024, ahead of the new plan year, TAG has seen remarkable results:

• Successfully transitioned 3,745 HSA accounts with several million in assets
• Successfully transitioned 2,100 FSA/Commuter accounts during the busiest benefits season
• Achieved 97% claims reimbursement approval rate
• Achieved 96% card auto-substantiation with over 81% of all transactions on card
• Under 15-hour response times during peak November through January period

“We do not have a lot of inquiries coming into my team member care team,” Stephanie shared. “Initially, of course, on transition, we had a big influx on go live about learning how to utilize the card or navigate the app, but that has all quieted as we are into the new year. It’s just very impressive that we've gotten to that place so quickly.”

Reducing administrative burden for everyone involved

“That proactive, as opposed to reactive approach, is something that has been really impactful to our team.” - Stephanie Brazil, Director of Benefits and Workforce Support Services

Since going live with Benepass, TAG has experienced significant improvements in both administration and team member experience. Benepass’s flexible architecture solved TAG’s complex multi-entity administration challenges. TAG can now pull detailed reports by business unit while maintaining a unified team member experience. 

“We’re able to granulate out each of the different business units to pull the funds for that,” Stephanie said. This allows TAG to manage custom funding across multiple business entities with separate operating accounts while team members enjoy a single, streamlined benefits platform.

The benefits team has redirected time previously spent on manual administration toward more strategic work. “We’ve invested that same amount of time into thinking more strategically around our benefits,” Stephanie said.

Beyond the administrative improvements, Benepass demonstrated their proactive approach to partnership. Without TAG even requesting it, Benepass automatically added Aspen Dental as a pre-approved merchant in their card decisioning system. This eliminated the card denials that had previously occurred at TAG’s own facilities, ensuring team members could seamlessly use their benefits when receiving care.

The benefits team is now exploring additional ways to leverage the Benepass platform, including potentially adding lifestyle spending accounts to further support team member well-being across TAG’s diverse healthcare brands. Looking ahead, TAG continues to benefit from regular collaboration with their dedicated account manager, ensuring they can quickly respond to business changes and set up new companies efficiently as the organization grows.

Key results

“I can’t believe we actually pulled this off. I have to sit back and applaud my team and the Benepass team that we actually pulled it off as seamlessly as we did.” - Stephanie Brazil, Director of Benefits and Workforce Support Services

• 75-day accelerated implementation: Successfully transitioned 3,745 HSA accounts with several million in assets and 2,100 FSA/Commuter accounts during the busiest benefits season while minimizing team member disruption.
• Seamless multi-entity administration: Benepass’s flexible architecture allows TAG to manage custom funding across multiple business entities while providing a unified team member experience and granular reporting capabilities.
• Exceptional team member experience: Achieved 97% claims reimbursement approval rate, 96% card auto-substantiation with over 81% of all transactions on card, and under 15-hour response times during peak season, with proactive merchant approvals eliminating card denials at TAG facilities.
• Strategic time savings: The TAG benefits team redirected hours previously spent on manual administration and vendor escalations toward strategic benefits planning and continuous program improvement.