Global professional services company Towers Watson has announced the launch of a simplified global benefit solution designed for the multinational marketplace. The offering, Global Access, allows multinational employers to deliver local-country, pre-packaged benefit programs that include life, accident, health and disability, with three fixed, benchmarked benefit levels.

Developed in conjunction with leading global insurance carriers and designed around Towers Watson's Benefits Data Source survey data, Global Access is aimed at employee populations where customization is not required in benefit design, and is available in more than 30 countries around the world (except for North America).

“Multinational companies often struggle with delivering quality employee benefit programs due to insufficient local-country HR functions and little or no availability of local benchmarking data on employee benefit packages,” said Cecil Hemingway, leader of Towers Watson's Global Health and Group Benefits practice.

Hemingway continued, “Global Access addresses these challenges head on. We've developed a first-of-its-kind, alternative benefit solution that provides employers with the simplicity of a fully benchmarked 'off the shelf' product that can be implemented within days, while also reducing costs and workload.”

For employee populations where no customization of benefit design is required, the offering replaces the need for employers to either negotiate or place policies directly with insurance carriers, or having to retain a local broker to do so. In addition, Global Access has very low minimum head count requirements for coverage, enhanced underwriting features that include higher guaranteed issue or free cover limits, and removal of pre-existing condition requirements for members who have been previously insured.

“Global Access improves transparency and control of local plans and vendors for multinational corporations at corporate and regional levels, and is fully compliant at a local-country level,” said Francis Coleman, director, International Consulting Group, Towers Watson. “It's also easy to operate and offers centrally managed renewals.”