BerniePortal review for benefits brokers: pricing, carrier feeds and enrollment
BerniePortal is an HR system sold through benefits brokers. You run enrollment, COBRA and 1095 filing for your clients, and employers can add payroll, time and PTO on the same record.
It fits small and midsize employers. Employers buying direct pay $5 to $29 an employee a month plus a base fee, and brokers can set their own client pricing.
- Best for
- Brokers who run benefits and HR for small and midsize clients in one system
- Type
- Benefits enrollment inside a full HR system
- Group size
- Small and midsize employers
- Price
- Direct: $5 to $29 an employee a month, plus a $25 or $40 base fee
- Who pays
- The employer. Brokers can set their own client pricing
- Carrier feeds
- Carrier Exchange, a carrier connection network run with Ideon, plus EDI files (electronic data interchange, the file format carriers use) to other carriers
- ACA and COBRA
- 1095 e-filing and COBRA run in the platform
- Demo or trial
- Free demo. No trial
Our take
BerniePortal suits a broker who wants to run enrollment, COBRA and ACA forms for small and midsize clients without a separate COBRA firm or filing service. Its Operations team builds each plan package, so your staff loads the census and checks the build.
Carrier feeds take patience. Each Carrier Exchange connection starts as Pending, and most go live within 60 days, so plan the first renewal around that wait.
Pros
- COBRA notices, enrollment and premium collection without a separate administrator
- 1095 forms built from enrollment data and e-filed with the IRS
- Carrier errors come back to one tab for brokers to fix
- Prices for direct buyers are on the website
- Groups can start mid-year, not only at renewal
Cons
- New carrier connections can sit in Pending for up to 60 days
- Employers can't open Carrier Exchange, so broker staff run it
- 1095 filing fees aren't published
- No published BAA
Plans and pricing
| Plan | Per employee a month | Base fee | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| StarterBenefits, onboarding and COBRAWhere most small groups start | $5 | $25 | Recruiting, onboarding, benefits, compliance and COBRA administration |
| StandardSmall employers adding time and payroll | $19 | $40 per EIN | PTO and time with one approver, plus payroll and performance for one subgroup |
| PlusGroups with a few locations or classes | $23 | $40 per EIN | Two approvers and up to four subgroups |
| EnterpriseGroups with many subgroups | $29 | $40 per EIN | Unlimited approvers and subgroups |
Direct prices for employers, as of October 2026, from bernieportal.com/pricing. An EIN is the employer's federal tax ID, so a company with two EINs pays two base fees. Ask how often the base fee is charged.
| Fee | Amount | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier Exchange, first carrier | $0.95 an enrolled employee a month | The agency or the employer, picked at setup |
| Carrier Exchange, each added carrier | $0.45 an enrolled employee a month | The agency or the employer |
| COBRA | 2% added to the COBRA premium | The COBRA member |
Good to know before you buy
- Brokers set their own pricing for clients, so a broker client may not pay the direct prices above.
- Carrier Exchange has no setup fee and is billed for each employer group separately.
- Carrier Exchange is free when BerniePortal also places or bills the group's dental plus two more lines of coverage.
- Broker clients can add PTO, time, payroll or performance one at a time without moving up a plan.
How brokers earn on it
Broker partners get a revenue share when clients add HR features and on 1095 filing fees. The share isn't published.
Which plan has it
| Feature | Starter | Standard | Plus | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benefits enrollment | ||||
| COBRA administration | ||||
| Recruiting and onboarding | ||||
| Compliance notices and e-signatures | ||||
| PTO and time | 1 approver | 2 approvers | Unlimited | |
| Payroll and performance | 1 subgroup | 4 subgroups | Unlimited |
Carrier Exchange and 1095 filing are priced on their own and work with any plan.
Who buys it and who pays
- Who signs the contract
- The employer signs a Master Subscription Agreement, sent through the broker
- Who pays
- The employer pays the subscription. Carrier Exchange is billed to the agency or the employer
- Broker compensation
- Revenue share as clients add HR features and on 1095 filing
- Reseller or white label
- Brokers set customized pricing for their clients
- Employees
- Use it at no cost
The employer holds the contract. The employer attaches a BerniePortal-licensed broker by email and can remove that broker from its Integrations page. If a group changes broker, the platform and its data stay with the employer.
Enrollment and administration
Employees enroll on their own, with plan summaries and videos built into each step. Subgroups let one employer set its own plans, eligibility rules and contributions by class, location or department.
Employee enrollment
- New hire and open enrollment
- Qualifying life events, with reminders to upload proof
- Evidence of insurability questions during enrollment
- CHOICE Arrangement (the new name for ICHRA, which repays staff for individual health plans) through eHealth
HR and broker tasks
- BerniePortal's Operations team builds each plan package from a broker request
- Census upload after the build review
- Election PDFs and a Carrier Forms report
- Broker Change Report across clients, daily, weekly or monthly
- BernieBill carrier bills as PDF and CSV
Carrier connections
| Carrier or feed | Type | Direction | Who builds it | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrier Exchange (Ideon carriers) | API | Both ways | Ideon and the carrier. Broker staff turn it on for each plan | $0.95 first carrier, $0.45 each added, per enrolled employee a month |
| Benefit Provider EDI | EDI | To the carrier | Turned on with a group number on the employer's Integrations page | Included |
| Guardian | API | Both ways | Built in | Included |
| BernieBill | Billing | To the carrier | Built in | Included |
Carrier Exchange sends group setup, plans, members and elections. Status changes and errors come back to the broker. A new plan connection starts as Pending and most go Active within 60 days, so keep the old carrier process running until then.
Payroll and HR connections
| Connects to | What moves | Direction | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| BerniePortal Payroll | Hours, PTO, benefit deductions and 401(k) amounts | Same system | Built in |
| 401(k) providers | Employee retirement contributions | To the provider each pay run | Built in |
| Payroll and API partners | Access the employer grants | To the partner | One-time access code the employer can revoke |
Built-in payroll handles federal, state and local withholding, direct deposit and W-2 and 1099 forms. It doesn't support certified payroll.
ACA and COBRA
- ACA reporting
- Builds 1094 and 1095-B or 1095-C forms from enrollment data
- Forms filed
- E-files with the IRS, reports rejections and resends corrected files. Optional print and mail to employees within 48 business hours
- COBRA
- Mails the rights notice, enrolls members, collects premiums by ACH and sends changes to carriers
- Who does the work
- BerniePortal, inside the platform. No separate COBRA administrator is needed
Getting started
Book a demo
BerniePortal says it replies within two business days.
Set up the agency
Guided onboarding adds your logo, brokers, service team and alerts.
Send a buildout request
Operations builds the plan package and holds a review call. BerniePortal says this takes about three business days.
Upload the census
For a mid-year start, close enrollment before you upload current elections.
Turn on carrier feeds
Configure Carrier Exchange for each plan and keep sending changes the old way until it goes Active.
Broker partners get a free Training Center with four courses, plus webinars and a knowledge base.
Your data and broker changes
- Who owns the data
- The user terms say each user, employer or employee, keeps ownership of what they enter
- Export
- The All Data report exports demographics, pay, elections, beneficiaries and deductions as CSV. Brokers can run it
- If the group changes broker
- The employer removes the old broker and attaches a new one. An attached broker never sees payment details
Security and HIPAA
HIPAA and health data
BerniePortal publishes no BAA (business associate agreement, the HIPAA contract for health data). Ask for one before health answers or EOI details go into the system.
Security
- Multi-factor login by text or email on every sign-in
- Audit log of enrollments, terminations and EOI decisions
BerniePortal alternatives
- InsynctiveFrom $4.50 an employee a month, plus setupWhite-label portal with ADP Workforce Now sync
- Employee NavigatorQuote onlyBrokers set up carrier enrollment files themselves for hundreds of carriers
- PlanSourceQuote onlyBuilt for employers with 1,000 or more employees
- bswiftQuote onlySold through brokers, with bswift running COBRA and ACA
See every option in employee benefits software.
Frequently asked questions
How much does BerniePortal cost?
Direct pricing runs $5 to $29 an employee a month plus a base fee. Brokers set their own pricing for their clients.
Who pays for Carrier Exchange?
The agency or the employer, chosen at setup. It costs $0.95 an enrolled employee a month for the first carrier and $0.45 for each added carrier.
Does BerniePortal handle COBRA?
Yes. It mails notices, enrolls members and collects premiums, and keeps a 2% fee added to the premium.
What happens when a group changes broker?
The employer removes the old broker and attaches the new one. The account stays with the employer.
Will BerniePortal sign a BAA?
It doesn't publish one, so ask before you collect health answers.
How we researched this review. We based this review on the pricing, terms and product pages published by BerniePortal, reviewed in October 2026, together with our team's experience working with insurance agents and agency owners since 2008.
Corrections
Vendors change their pricing all the time and they don't email us when they do. So if you see a price on here that's gone up, a plan BerniePortal quit selling or a contract term that reads different now, let us know and send the link to the page where BerniePortal has it. Somebody here pulls up that page and checks it before we change anything on ours.