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Third-party administrator

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112:(SIR) that operates somewhat like a deductible, but rather than being paid at the end of a claim (when a loss payment is made to a claimant), the money is paid up front by the insured for costs, expenses, attorney fees etc. as the claim moves forward. If there is a settlement or verdict within the SIR, then that is also paid by the insured up to the limit of the SIR, before the insurer steps in and pays its portion. The TPA acts like a claims adjuster for the insurance company and sometimes works in conjunction with the inside insurance company claims adjuster or an outside claims investigator as well as the defense counsel. The defense counsel in some situations is selected by the TPA. The point is that the larger the SIR, the more responsibility the TPA has over the control of the way the claim is handled and ultimately resolved. Some self-insured retentions are in the millions of dollars and the TPAs are large multinational non-insurance entities that handle all the claims. In contrast, some self-insureds choose not to outsource claims handling to a TPA, preferring instead to handle all claims in house. This is known as self-administration. 88:
Third-party administrators are prominent players in the health care industry and have the expertise and capability to administer all or a portion of the claims process. They are normally contracted by a health insurer or self-insuring companies to administer services, including claims administration,
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are often partly managed by an investment company. Instead of handling all the plan contributions by employees, distributions to employees, and other aspects of plan processing, the investment company may contract with a third-party administrator to handle much of the administrative work and only
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the administration of the claims processing, since the TPA is performing a task traditionally handled by the company providing the insurance or the company itself. Often, in the case of insurance claims, a TPA handles the claims processing for an
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premium collection, enrollment and other administrative activities. A hospital or provider organization desiring to set up its own health plan will often outsource certain responsibilities to a third-party administrator.
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plans for a separate entity. It is also a term used to define organizations within the insurance industry which administer other services such as underwriting and customer service. This can be viewed as
105: 109: 61:. The risk of loss remains with the employer, and not with the TPA. An insurance company may also use a TPA to manage its claims processing, provider networks, 92:
For example, an employer may choose to help finance the health care costs of its employees by contracting with a TPA to administer many aspects of a
76:. Many employee benefit plans have highly technical aspects and difficult administration that can make using a specialized entity such as a TPA more 108:(CGL) policies or so called "casualty" business. In these instances, the liability policies are written with a large (in excess of $ 50,000) 65:, or membership functions. While some third-party administrators may operate as units of insurance companies, they are often independent. 169: 68:
Third-party administrators also handle many aspects of other employee benefit plans such as the processing of
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that self-insures its employees. Thus, the employer is acting as an
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Organization that processes employee benefits for a separate entity
121: 148: 203: 170:"Is Self-Administration Ever the Right Answer?" 99: 80:than doing the same processing in house. 104:This term is also now commonly used in 204: 125:handle the remaining investment work. 115: 13: 14: 238: 184: 141: 162: 144:"Glossary of Healthcare terms" 135: 83: 1: 196:Michigan statutory definition 128: 106:commercial general liability 100:Commercial general liability 7: 120:Retirement plans such as a 10: 243: 191:Healthcare Crisis Glossary 74:flexible spending accounts 33:processes insurance claims 31:) is an organization that 25:third-party administrator 94:self-funded health care 110:self-insured retention 35:or certain aspects of 227:Insurance industry 63:utilization review 51:insurance company 234: 217:Health economics 178: 177: 166: 160: 159: 157: 156: 139: 116:Retirement plans 70:retirement plans 37:employee benefit 242: 241: 237: 236: 235: 233: 232: 231: 202: 201: 187: 182: 181: 168: 167: 163: 154: 152: 140: 136: 131: 118: 102: 86: 17: 12: 11: 5: 240: 230: 229: 224: 219: 214: 212:Business terms 200: 199: 193: 186: 185:External links 183: 180: 179: 161: 133: 132: 130: 127: 117: 114: 101: 98: 85: 82: 78:cost effective 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 239: 228: 225: 223: 220: 218: 215: 213: 210: 209: 207: 197: 194: 192: 189: 188: 175: 171: 165: 151: 150: 145: 138: 134: 126: 123: 113: 111: 107: 97: 95: 90: 81: 79: 75: 71: 66: 64: 60: 56: 52: 48: 43: 38: 34: 30: 26: 22: 21:United States 173: 164: 153:. Retrieved 147: 137: 119: 103: 91: 87: 67: 28: 24: 18: 84:Health care 55:underwrites 42:outsourcing 222:Retirement 206:Categories 155:2008-02-26 129:References 174:irmi.com 47:employer 19:In the 122:401(k) 96:plan. 142:PBS. 72:and 59:risk 57:the 53:and 23:, a 149:PBS 29:TPA 208:: 172:. 146:. 198:± 176:. 158:. 27:(

Index

United States
processes insurance claims
employee benefit
outsourcing
employer
insurance company
underwrites
risk
utilization review
retirement plans
flexible spending accounts
cost effective
self-funded health care
commercial general liability
self-insured retention
401(k)
"Glossary of Healthcare terms"
PBS
"Is Self-Administration Ever the Right Answer?"
Healthcare Crisis Glossary
Michigan statutory definition
Categories
Business terms
Health economics
Retirement
Insurance industry

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