San Francisco HSS previews expanded eBenefits, self-service and large open-enrollment mailing

Mitchell Griggs, chief operating officer of the San Francisco Health Service System, told the board the system is preparing a larger-scale online open enrollment for plan year 2020 while continuing substantial paper mailings and in-person events. "We mail a little over 76,000 packets every year," Griggs said, and staff are running more events and new communications to support the change.

The presentation said the 2020 rollout will expand self-service access to employees, retirees and a pilot group from the unified school district. Marina Coleridge, enterprise systems and analytics manager, said the team has increased retiree onboarding from about 4,800 last year to roughly 7,700 retirees set up for online access and is providing kiosks, phone assistance and step-by-step job aids to help members who lack home computer access.

Why it matters: the shift to eBenefits and self-service changes how members view and verify their personal data and dependents, and it affects outreach and enrollment costs. Coleridge noted the online portal will let members review contact information and dependent data for the first time, which can reveal data-quality issues that must be corrected to preserve members' benefits.

Details and board questions: presenters described a range of supporting materials — condensed mailers for employers, full guides for retirees, photography-driven benefit guides and a video walkthrough — and a calendar of more than 20 open-enrollment events. Coleridge said kiosks will be available across city departments and that identity-and-access management and PeopleSoft provisioning required substantial coordination with the Department of Technology and the controller’s office systems division.

Commissioners asked whether members can opt out of paper mailings and whether electronic changes count as "written notification." Coleridge said members must elect an opt-out each year under current rules and the HSS lacks the infrastructure today to manage an ongoing opt-out database, but building an electronic opt-out function is a priority. On notification, she said changes made through eBenefits or self-service will be counted as notification and staff can update the rules language for future clarity.

Next steps: staff will continue piloting self-service with the unified school district and provide additional guidance, including a written definition of the audit and notification pathways, at a future board meeting.