Find the Hidden Savings Already Sitting In
Your Health Plan
Trusted by hundreds of employers since 2001
Dependent eligibility, working-spouse, and claims audits — priced around your outcome. Our ROI guarantee means the audit can't cost more than it returns.
How much can you save? Generally 2% - 3% of annual claims spend. That varies. We have removed ineligible spouses each costing hundreds of thousands of dollars for several clients.
You already know audits save money. Here's what makes ours different.
Cost.
Priced around your outcome.
Engagement models built around your outcome - including a net ROI guarantee, so the audit can't cost more than it returns. Fixed-fee, success, and free savings corridor terms also available.
See the models
Compliance.
Defensible under fiduciary duty.
A documented, defensible audit trail for your fiduciary duty — inside a HIPAA-compliant, SOC 2 Type II ecosystem. Our service helps plan sponsors maintain their fiduciary responsibility.
How we protect data
Calm.
An experience no one dreads.
An employee-first experience with empathetic communication — higher completion, shorter cycle times. A process that embodies peace-of-mind for your employees and for you.
Member experience
In their words...
“I would like to personally thank you and your staff for your excellent assistance and advice which resulted in major savings of health insurance to the citizens of the State of Iowa."
Governor Vilsack,
The State of Iowa
"Not only did the HR Best Practices team deliver on time and within budget, but they saved us more money than we expected. And they did most of the work!"
“HR Best Practices did a terrific job and they even put their fees at risk. Their AI-assisted dependent audit technology made the process painless and effective for our employees and management.”
Dawn Tedeschi, Benefits Manager - Evonik - a 4,000 employee manufacturer
Tyler Broadbent,
VP HR & Labor Relations,
SME Industries
Creative, Flexible Terms - Including an ROI Guarantee
Flat and predictable.
One price agreed upfront, per employee or per dependent
Success-based.
Flat dollar amount per confirmed removal or per capita, age-banded by dependent type
Floor first.
Fees only apply once savings clear an agreed threshold.
200% + return promised.
If it doesn't return more than it costs, you don't pay the gap.
Three Different Approaches -
All Approaches Include a Custom Employee-facing Survey -
Choose the level of rigor that fits your plan and your people.
1
100% Proof
Every dependent must submit supporting proof. Proof includes all types of government-issued documents and other proof.
Ideal for first time audits or audits every few years.
2
"Audit Where it Makes Sense"
Only employees whose survey responses raise questions are required to submit proof. Additional "guardrails" such as random QA spot audits are also included.
An approach with rigor that's less demanding on employees since only 25% submit proof.
3
1040-driven
Employees are only required to submit first page of redacted, recent 1040. Additional document types are also permitted. This is a low effort, streamlined burden of proof for employees since about 90% of employees file jointly and show children on tax return. Proven AI technology helps drive the process.
Maximum rigor
Balanced
Lowest Friction
One-time Or Continuous Audits
Most clients start with a one-time audit to prove the savings, then move to continuous once they've seen the numbers.
One-time Audit
A full sweep of every enrolled dependent - documented, defensible and designed to surface the savings hiding in your plan today.
Continuous Audits
Verification that never sleeps. Every new hire and qualifying life event is checked as it happens, so ineligibility never creeps back. Either weekly or monthly.
Highest Dependent Audit ROI Approach
Beyond eligibility - our solution also recovers and prevents overpayments - driving the highest ROI
Coverage Tier Mismatch Auditing
Compares the enrollment file against employee elections to identify employees who are underpaying for their health insurance.
Can also compare enrollment tiers to claim relationship to confirm dependent was enrolled as a spouse or child.
IMPACT - Recovers current underpayment and stops ongoing overpayments
Coordination of Benefits Auditing
Confirms that a spouse’s claims are paid by the spouse’s own employer’s plan when the spouse is enrolled in your plan while also carrying employer-sponsored coverage of their own.
Ensures the responsible plan pays first — so your plan isn’t absorbing costs another employer owes.
IMPACT - Avoids paying claims another employer's plan should cover
You already know dependent eligibility and working spouse audits save money and help you comply. What sets ours apart is how it's run — priced around your outcome, defensible under fiduciary duty, and built so neither your employees, nor you, ever dread it! One-time or continuous.
Ineligible dependents and working spouses are one of the few benefit costs you can manage without touching coverage for eligible members. Most employers find 3–8% of dependents don't belong on the plan — each removal saves thousands a year. Auditing working spouse provisions can save even more. We make the economics risk-free. Ask for a free savings analysis today.
Discover Your Savings
Explore how our services can help you save. With a mix of claims ranging from $1,000 to $10,000+ per capita, potential savings could reach 2% to 3%, considering 5% of dependents may be ineligible. We have actually removed several ineligible dependents costing over $500,000 each.
Your bottom line and peace-of-mind can also benefit from our other value-added services.
Medical & Pharmacy Claim Audits and
High Cost Claimant Audits
Benefits Administration &
Portal Licensing
Articles, Posts,
Webinars, and Conferences
Ed Levins, Managing Director, Corporate Health Innovations
“Our first claim audit with HR Best Practices was Air France in the early 2000s. Since then they've very successfully completed other audits and have also provided ACA hours tracking and IRS reporting - they always do a great job."
Kristin Cox, HR Manager, McShea Contracting, LLC
"Awesome job producing several years worth of 1095-Cs and IRS 1094-C filings - they're very responsive and know their business."
National Health Insurance Broker
“After a thorough evaluation of many companies we hired HR Best Practices for health & welfare benefits administration on behalf of 8,000 clients - I'd highly recommend them. They're super competent, responsive, and provide a great value."
FAQs
List Title
1 / What's the most employee-friendly way to run a dependent eligibility audit?
The most employee-friendly audits replace accusatory, paperwork-heavy processes with a simple digital experience: mobile document upload, plain-language instructions, live support, and a no-penalty amnesty period. At HR Best Practices, employees verify in under 5 minutes from any device with a dedicated support line, which is why we see a 98+% completion rate and minimal employee pushback. HR Best Practices also offers the least disruptive approaches including "Audit Where it Makes Sense" (only 25% of employees are required to provide proof) and 1040-driven.
2 / What ROI can employers expect from a dependent eligibility audit?
Dependent audits are among the highest-ROI moves in benefits, because even a small share of ineligible dependents drives outsized cost. Roughly 3–8% of enrolled dependents are typically ineligible, each costing over $4,500 a year on average translating to reducing annual claims by 2% - 3%.
Our audits deliver even higher savings when working spouse provisions, coordination of benefits (COB), and premiums and/or claims-based coverage tiers are audited. For example, Staples, a client, realized a 2,800% ROI in its first year.
3 / How does AI improve dependent eligibility verification?
AI makes verification faster and more accurate by automatically reading and validating submitted documents, flagging inconsistencies a manual reviewer might miss, and routing only genuine exceptions to a human. Our platform verifies a 1040, marriage or birth certificate in seconds.
For clients seeking an "easy lift" for employees our 1040-first approach simply requires a redacted, recently completed tax return showing the spouse and children. Additional documents can also be provided.
For clients seeking additional assurance, "guardrails" such as spot audits and social media reviews can be purchased.
4 / How accurate and secure are AI-powered dependent audits?
Accuracy and data security are where AI-driven audits stand apart. Our technology verifies documents against your exact plan rules with 99+% accuracy, while encrypted upload, storage, and strict access controls protect sensitive family records. Every flagged case is reviewed by a trained auditor before any dependent is recommended to the client for removal. As noted, optional "guardrails" are available to provide additional assurance.
5 / What size employers does HRBestPractices.com specialize in?
HRBestPractices.com specializes in employers with 100 to 10,000 enrolled employees who have one or more dependents. Our audits are built for organizations of this size that want an employee-friendly, low-friction solution — verification that controls benefits costs and maintains compliance without creating a burdensome experience for employees or added workload for HR.
6 / How much extra work is it for the HR/Benefits department?
HRBestPractices.com does all the "heavy lifting." Once the client provides the eligibility / enrollment data and approves communications, we do all the work. Management can choose to attend weekly meetings. On occasion, employee-related issues may have to be discussed. Considering the employee-facing portion of the audit takes less than 4 weeks, the potential savings justifies the effort.