MELVILLE, N.Y.—Like many benefit managers today, Fran Ruderman, senior director of benefits and compensation at Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc., has been facing some formidable challenges in the midst of the nationwide economic downturn.

For starters, she needed to address the growing cost of company-sponsored benefits at a time when employees, concerned about the possibility of losing their jobs, started using more health care services.

She also had to ensure that employees with chronic conditions continued taking their medications, to avoid costly complications, at a time when many were considering cutting back to save money.

Moreover, she had to persuade employees to continue saving for retirement even after a stock market crash and the company's suspension of its 401(k) plan match.

Despite the pressures of the worst recession since the Great Depression, Ms. Ruderman tackled all of these tasks with élan. She even had enough energy left over to inspire employees to lose weight, get fit and take the steps necessary to ensure what she calls their “financial wellness.”

“It's important to me to communicate to employees what's important, and educate them and give them the tools to become more aware and accountable, to be better consumers in every respect,” Ms. Ruderman said. “In the past, I was once accused of over-communicating. I don't think you can over-communicate on this topic.”

In fact, Ms. Ruderman believes that because of her department's enhanced communication efforts, “our employees are getting it. And they're not just doing it for Leviton. They're doing it for themselves.”

Due to these, and many other accomplishments, Ms. Ruderman is being recognized as Business Insurance's 2009 Benefit Manager of the Year.

Her achievements also have been showcased on MSNBC, on the Wall Street Journal's Marketwatch.com and in Workforce Management, one of BI's sister publications at Crain Communications Inc.

In addition, Ms. Ruderman's wellness initiatives have earned the “Best in Class” designation by Chapel Hill-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, the insurer that administers the company's self-funded health benefits plan.

“Fran is a creative and inspiring leader with an unparalleled ability to rally people around ideas and sustain a sense of optimism even when faced with difficult challenges,” said Mark Baydarian, Leviton's chief financial officer, in a letter nominating Ms. Ruderman for the award.

“Her enthusiasm and energy have been instrumental in creating a truly cutting-edge and tailored approach to health care coverage and cost management which Leviton's employees enjoy today. She constantly amazes me with her knowledge and intelligence,” he continued. “I could not imagine Leviton without her efforts.”

Ms. Ruderman began her work at the Melville, N.Y.-based manufacturer of electrical components in July 2000, coming to Leviton after 14 years at Thomson Industries, a New York-based manufacturing company.

She said she ended up in benefits almost by accident, taking a position as benefits administrator after serving several years as the office manager for the marina the company owned.

“It was a very glamorous job in terms of getting on yachts and meeting prestigious people, but it was very boring,” she recalled.

Ms. Ruderman's “dream job” was to be in marketing, a discipline in which she has both a bachelor's and master's degree.

“I really think my dream has come true because what I've found in this area of benefits and compensation is that I am marketing. I am marketing very important tools and products to our employees. I love that aspect of what I do,” she said.

One of the most essential tools that Ms. Ruderman has had to “market” to Leviton's 3,000 U.S. employees is HR InTouch, an intranet-based employee benefits Web portal, which is supplied by Charleston, S.C.-based Benefitfocus Inc. (see related story, page 14)

The portal connects to Leviton's in-house payroll system, which runs on Oracle Corp.'s PeopleSoft application.

Starting on Jan. 1, 2008, all employees were required to enroll in their benefits plans online. Employees who did not have computer access either at work or at home could do so at computer kiosks that were set up at the company's 14 U.S. locations.

In keeping with Leviton's 2-year-old “Go Green” initiative, “there's no facing or paper that has to be transmitted to the carriers,” Ms. Ruderman noted.

The PeopleSoft system collects the information, sends it electronically to Benefitfocus, which, in turn, sends it to BCBSNC and any other benefits plan vendor with which Leviton has contracted.

Since joining Leviton in 2000, Ms. Ruderman has consolidated the number of health plans offered down to a single vendor, BCBSNC, which was selected because the company's largest employee population is based in North Carolina. The only exception is a group of about 100 employees in Nevada, which is covered by Reno-based St. Mary's HealthFirst because it was the only available provider network in the area, Ms. Ruderman explained.

The plan most recently cut from Leviton's roster was Chicago-based BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois, which had requested a 47% premium increase for a fully insured group of 29 Leviton employees based in that state.

“It's not experience-rated,” Ms. Ruderman said. “It's based on their book of business.”

Those employees will be enrolled in the company's self-insured plan effective Jan. 1, 2010.

The cost of Leviton's health benefits going into 2010 had been projected to grow by 8.8% had it not been for several plan design changes implemented by Ms. Ruderman.

By adding the HDHP, increasing copayments for specialists and emergency room visits, providing first-dollar coverage for preventive care and instituting mental health parity, the rate of increase dropped to 4.3%.

That number could have been lower, however, had it not been for what Ms. Ruderman called “benefits rush.”

“We've seen an increase in medical utilization. I think people were concerned about job security, so everyone used coverage more this year than in the past,” she explained.

To stem the rate of future cost increases in Leviton's health benefits plan, Ms. Ruderman introduced a series of wellness programs designed to improve the health and well-being of the company's employees and their dependents (see related story, page 14).

Concerned that employees with chronic conditions might cut back on medications to save money, Ms. Ruderman launched a “Medication Dedication” program in January 2008.

Under that program, individuals who have a chronic illness, such as Type II diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension or coronary artery disease, can obtain generic medications at no cost. If there is no generic equivalent, or if their doctor prefers they take a brand-name drug, their medication is moved down one tier in Leviton's three-tiered drug plan.

The program increased medication adherence from 69% in 2007 to 81% in 2008. In addition, the generic utilization rate increased to 65.4% from 59.6% over the one-year period. Figures for 2009 are not yet available.

To determine Leviton's biggest health care cost drivers, Ms. Ruderman asked its consultant to conduct a claims analysis, which found that 75% of the company's employees are mostly healthy and drive about 15% of total costs, while 25% of employees are responsible for the remainder.

Through the use of the Medication Dedication program in conjunction with wellness programs, Leviton was able to reduce costs by 7.9% for employees in the chronic/severe/catastrophic category in 2008 over 2007.

Besides getting health care costs under control, Ms. Ruderman's other major challenge has been persuading employees to continue contributing to their 401(k) plan following both the 2008 stock market crash and Leviton's suspension of its safe harbor match as of March 1, 2009.

To address these concerns, Ms. Ruderman partnered with Leviton's 401(k) plan administrator, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, to develop a holistic financial communications campaign that addressed everything from market volatility to long-term financial planning and retirement security and the value of other company-provided benefits including life, health and disability insurance.

Afterwards, “the concerns stopped. It wasn't a panic situation anymore. People were more happy to keep their job and recognize they had health insurance, they were healthy, they had a comprehensive benefits program,” Ms. Ruderman said. “It was a whole process of taking a step back and thinking long-term.”