Glossary

Small Business Glossary and Definitions

What are Administrative Services Only (ASO)?

“Administrative Services Only” (ASO) is where a company funds its own health insurance program, pension plan or other employee benefit plan, but uses an outside company to take care of certain administrative tasks.

So a company might maintain responsibility for paying employee health insurance claims but use an insurance company for evaluating and processing the claims, accounting, preparing an administration manual, preparing government reports, employee communications and preparing summary plan descriptions.

The practice is becoming more popular because companies are recognizing not only the possible financial advantages, but also the chance to balance protection and control over their employee benefits.