NEWSROOM

The Tech Team Updates for this month offer more news you can use concerning Ease and its transition to Employee Navigator (EN), which is continuing into 2026.
 
Intake Form: An intake form is required to collect the information needed for your group and plan build requirements. Get the latest Ease Setup Request Form Instructions in Word & Brown’s Insurance Forms Library. You will also find EN Setup Request Form Instructions.
 
As access and features are released by EN, we will keep our Employee Navigator Build Guide updated with the most current information.
 
What’s New?
 
Below are highlights of the most recent EN enhancements:
 
Scheduled Changes and Open Enrollment
Employees with scheduled demographic changes that occur before or during their Open Enrollment period can enroll based on their updated information. This means employees will see accurate benefit costs and coverage amounts that reflect upcoming life changes. This update ensures contributions, benefit amounts, and payroll group changes are reflected during enrollment. Please note that different plan eligibility based on scheduled changes is not yet included.
 
Faster-Loading Things to Do List – and Greater Reliability
The Things to Do list on the company homepage now updates automatically once per hour instead of in real-time. When you load the homepage, you can see statistics from the most recent hourly update along with a "Last updated" timestamp. A "Refresh" button allows you to retrieve current data at any time by reloading the page. This change reduces database load as our platform scales, while also preventing timeout errors during high usage periods like peak season.
 
Fewer Clicks When Building New Plans
When you're working on a new plan that's not yet ready for enrollment, the setup pages automatically open in edit mode. This way, you can start building right away without an extra click. This applies to plans that are turned off for enrollment, incomplete, and created within the last 12 months.
 
Medical Underwriting Process Improvements
Employees can now complete health questions and sign forms for medical underwriting assignments regardless of how far in advance the due date is from their benefit effective date. The previous 60-day limitation was removed, giving you more flexibility in managing your underwriting timeline.
 
W&B Support
Reach out to your W&B sales team to discuss next steps in requesting W&B support for Ease and Employee Navigator.

Also, make sure you are signed up to receive our W&B emails. We will be sending out information on the most-current training sessions and releases from Employee Navigator as they are available.
 
Employee Navigator Training Resources
Check out the links below to the resources and guides available for your agency and your groups on Employee Navigator: 

• HR Training Resources
• Broker Training Resources
• Employee Experience (6:37)
• HR Experience (4:57)