Industries Insurance Brokerage Services Employee Self-Service Long Term Care Insurance Employee Assistance Programs Benefits Administration Services Dependent Eligibility Verification (DEV) Short Term Medical New Individual Health Insurance
The DEV administration process is set up to verify only eligible dependents placed on healthcare plans. The number of employers who are verifying dependent eligibility more thoroughly as a means of enforcing eligibility provisions and identifying ineligible claims that otherwise would have been paid, is on the rise.

What is Dev?

DEV is a Dependent Eligibility Verification audit. During this process, WestLake will require that all employees enrolling dependents on Medical, Dental and/or Vision plans submit proof of eligible status for each dependent.

Why Consider DEV?

The purpose of a DEV audit is to ensure the appropriate people are using the benefits offered by an employer; ultimately controlling costs.

Who is Subject to DEV?

During the initial audit, the employees enrolling a dependent in benefits (medical/dental/vision or as specified by the employer) will be required to submit documentation.

For the ongoing administration of the DEV program, new hires or newly eligible employees enrolling dependents will be required to submit documentation. In addition, employees reporting a family status change or adding dependents during open enrollment will be required to submit documentation for dependents newly added to the plan(s). Ongoing administrative support by WestLake is an optional service.

What are the Average Results?

On average, WestLake has seen between 15-18% of a dependent population fail to provide necessary documentation to remain covered.

How Does a DEV Audit Save an Employer Money?

The purpose of the DEV audit is to remove ineligible dependents from benefits. Each of those dependents, on average, is worth approximately $3200 to a health plan annually. Therefore, each dependent removed can be multiplied by the average dependent cost to determine the annual savings to the plan.

Does the DEV Process Require HR Time and Resources?

WestLake takes complete responsibility for the DEV process. The assistance required from the employer is to provide a dependent listing and approve the communication materials and timeline. WestLake is responsible for communicating the process, collecting the documentation, and removing the dependents from coverage through payroll and the carrier(s).