Case Study: Covenant Administrators, LLC achieves 78%+ electronic payments, $260K annual VCC rebates and major cost savings with Optum's Settlement Advocate

Comprehensive Payment Management Boosts Efficiency, Revenue, and Cost Savings

Covenant Administrators, LLC, a lean third‑party administrator based in Duluth, GA that manages claims for 33,000+ covered lives, needed a reliable vendor to comprehensively manage provider payments (ACH and virtual credit cards) after a prior partner failed to deliver on 1099 handling, partial VCC processing, reconciliation and provider support. Seeking a trusted solution, Covenant selected Optum’s Settlement Advocate to replace the problematic arrangement and automate payment processing and distribution.

Optum implemented a staged six‑month migration, handling opt‑outs, partial VCC swipes, 1099 processing, online provider access to EOPs/835s, import reporting and local check printing, which simplified accounting and eliminated much provider follow‑up. As a result, electronic payments nearly doubled to over 78% (with roughly 60% via VCC), producing $260,000+ in annual VCC rebates, an estimated $75,000 annual savings in printing/postage, removed 1099 production costs and avoided the need to hire additional staff — delivering measurable efficiency and revenue improvements for Covenant Administrators under Optum.