Administrative outsourcing can often be a dirty word in public sectors. In tragically becomes synonymous with labor force reduction. BOO!

Far from it! Talk to any HR administrator—there is plenty of work to go around. We’re not talking about replacing people with computers, we’re talking about smart decisions to outsource both redundant tasks and technical expertise in order to increase productivity in your present workforce. This is doing more with less!

As municipal and public school officials look to how they will balance growing administrative burdens with finite budgets in the coming year, here are three outsourcing options to consider in 2016.

Retiree Medical Billing Services

Collecting and remitting health insurance premium payments from retirees is a monthly exercise for public sector HR administrators that varies in its time (and stress) demand. Variables, such as handling late payments, Medicare primary transitions, and stale contact information can make the seemingly simple task of collecting and tracking retiree premium payments a significant productivity-drain.

In one case, a large public school with roughly 300 retirees reported that handling retiree billing internally took on average 30 labor-hours each month, costing roughly $10,080 annual in direct labor costs! The school also reported productivity losses due to consistent disruptions due to sporadic arrivals of payments for filing and securing.

For around the same price that schools and municipalities are already paying through direct labor costs, public sector employers could outsource retiree billing to a TPA. Beyond labor savings, the service provides added value in fostering stronger relationships between employers and their retirees.

Related Blog: Three Must-Haves in Every Retiree Billing RFP

Jenna Bongermino, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, Director of Human Resources at North Colonie Central School District of Latham, NY commented, “One of the benefits of outsourcing retiree billing services is that we are able to separate ourselves from the unpleasant bill collection aspect of providing benefits to our retirees, making them more likely to contact us for questions relating to their benefits.”

Carrier Billing Reconciliation & Remittance Services

Another tedious monthly task for HR administrators and Benefits Specialists is reconciling and paying carrier bills. With multiple bargaining units often leading to numerous insurance offerings, monthly carrier bill reconciliation can demand a considerable amount of labor hours from admin departments.

On a monthly basis, carrier billing and reconciliation services will:

• Reconcile each carrier bill to your member population
• Provide a single consolidated bill for easy payment
• Remit funds to each of your insurance carriers.

The service pairs best when TPAs are already managing the employer’s members through online benefits enrollment systems. Changes to the employer’s member population are readily accessible for bill comparisons during reconciliation.

Related Blog: What to Look For When Selecting ONling Benefits Enrollment Software

Affordable Care Act Reporting & Administration Services

Lessons learned in year one: outsource ACA services sooner rather than later. By November of 2015, most service providers for Obamacare Administration and Reporting ceased taking on further clients due to operational capacity and lengthy implementation timelines.

Related Blog: Payroll Vendors vs. Benefits Managers for Obamacare Reporting: A Comparative Service Analysis

Barring any need for resubmissions or filing corrections post the February 29 deadlines, it will not be until April of 2016 that employers realize the true labor and overhead costs of handling ACA compliance internally. Total costs should include:

• Labor and overhead cost of researching, to include attending webinars and seminars
• Labor and overhead cost of gathering and tracking relevant data
• Labor and overhead cost spent completing and filing forms
• Increased compliance risk
• Consulting fees and legal counsel
• Administrative fines

Furthermore, with regulations that continue to evolve and administrative requirements that increase in complexity, lessons learned in year 2015 may already be obsolete by January of 2017.

Working with finite resources and unwavering budget caps continues to be an ongoing challenge for public school and municipal employers. Overcoming the misperceived threat of outsourcing is a further obstacle that public leadership must negotiate when determining how best to allocate their limited fiscal and human resources. Where many employers have declined to backfill administrative positions as aging workers retire, the argument for outsourcing retiree billing, carrier reconciliation, and Obamacare compliance services gains more clout in the coming years.