Benefits Service Sees Dramatic Growth
Management Services Division
The CVES Benefits Team is doing such an amazing job with their Employee Benefit Plan Administration service that business has grown seven-fold over less than four years. The service offers districts the management of HRAs, FSAs, and now HSAs. A sub-Co-Ser of the Benefits Services Co-Ser, the service is called Employee Benefit Plan Administration, Co-Ser 602.7812.
GROWING DEMAND
The service started in July 2022 after several districts requested it, with three CVES component districts enrolled.
By January 2026, there are 21 districts that take advantage of the Co-Ser. That includes all CVES component districts, as well as several from the Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES region.
And that number keeps growing. CVES Benefits Director Vicki Demarse-Giroux gets more inquiries all the time. She expects to have 30 districts on board by July 2026 with the addition of districts from the Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES.
“Under the leadership of Vicki, we have seen this Co-Ser grow and enhance support to countless individuals,” said CVES Deputy Superintendent Eric Bell. “Now looking toward the future, we see more opportunity to grow and support fellow BOCES thanks to the professionalism and quality care this Co- Ser provides.”
SAVING MONEY AND GREAT SERVICE
Most of the districts that have joined were already offering employees some type of HRAs, FSAs and HSAs in the past, but they used external vendors. Now that they get the service through the BOCES, they get aid back on all the administrative costs involved – which means districts are saving money while also getting great service.
All that growth is without doing any initial outreach. Vicki and her team do such a wonderful job with helping customers that word-of-mouth recommendations have been the major driver for other districts getting involved.
The team that supports the Co-Ser is comprised of Vicki and benefits specialists Kaitlyn Bouyea and Jill Borrie. Sr. Benefit Specialist Emilee Quantock is also involved with some duties. The whole Benefits Coordination Office is ready to help out when one of the core group isn’t available. That’s how they ensure such fantastic customer service.
HOW IT WORKS
Vicki and her team work with a district to set up the options they’d like to give their employees. They worked with school business officials to build the service, so it’s made to align easily with how school districts set up their budgets and billing.
All three types of accounts are meant to help with the costs of health care, but each has different uses and specifics.
With an FSA, or Flexible Spending Account, an employee can put money into an account that can be then used for health care costs. The employee chooses a specific amount of money they want to go into the FSA, then that amount is split up so it’s spread out across pay periods, and it’s withdrawn from their check each pay before taxes are taken out. Any money not used by the end of the year goes away.
An HRA, or Health Reimbursement Account, is similar but the money in the account is contributed by a school district.
The service also recently started supporting Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs. These are only available to people who have a high-deductible insurance plan.
The service offers some specific types of accounts too, including dependent day care FSAs and premium FSAs.
CLEAR COMMUNICATION
Does all this sound complicated? That’s why it’s so important to have a team of people ready to answer questions and address concerns in a way that’s clear and easy to understand.
“We make budgeting easy; we make customer service easy. We really pride ourselves on making communication easy to understand and that people are getting the most for the dollars that they’re spending,” Vicki said.
Once the plans are set up, Vicki and the benefits team provide customer service directly to the district’s employees as they set up and use their accounts. Customers can call in, and a member of the team will answer and help right away with any questions or concerns they might have.
The service also provides free debit cards as part of the service, and there’s a mobile app and web platform where users can easily log in and keep track of their spending and how much money they have available in their accounts.
The service was built specifically around schools to help them– that’s why our team can offer such a great service that really sets them apart.