As COVID-19 Challenges Employers, Managing Workforce Reductions with Empathy is Crucial

CHARLESTON, S.C., April 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Benefitfocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT), a technology platform enabling rapid innovation for employers and health plans, has launched a comprehensive initiative, "For You," to support its customers who are confronting the COVID-19 health crisis. Furthering the company's mission to improve lives with benefits, Benefitfocus has expanded its offerings to help its customers care for their employees beyond an employment relationship and released a new Community Resource Center to help educate them through the challenges of this economic downturn.

"The 150,000-plus employers on our platform are committed to caring for their employees, even while making hard decisions that impact the careers and livelihood of their workforce," said Ray August, President and CEO of Benefitfocus. "Our platform is built to deliver additional opportunities showcasing employer empathy, at scale and to allow our customers to focus on business continuity and making their business comeback bigger than the setback."

Through the Benefitfocus platform, employers can maintain relationships with staff across all stages of work status, no matter the size of the population affected. The solution will have: 

• An automated off-boarding experience that connects affected individuals to affordable medical plan alternatives and voluntary benefit products
• The ability to reactivate staff when business circumstances allow for return-to-normal business operations
• Guidance on workforce changes through information, education and communication tools on available options that impact the business and the individual
• Ability to easily change eligibility status of employees through various categories and back.

The Community Resource Center expands on Benefitfocus' recently released COVID-19 Resource Center, created to assist our customers with a better understanding of the impact of COVID-19 and its impact on their benefits-related operations and communications. The Resource Center provides Benefitfocus customers with timely information, insight and shared experiences to help deal with business and workforce adjustments:

• Strategies to help companies supplement benefit programs to meet the new needs of their employees who are being separated from employment
• A content library explaining the likely scenarios of different separation strategies
• Administrative and communication tools to help manage and explain changes to impacted employees, such as moving from full-time to part-time, or from employed to unemployed status.

"This is a great initiative from Benefitfocus – a timely and practical response to help benefits stakeholders through the crisis," said Reetika Fleming, Vice President of Research at HFS Research, a leading analyst firm covering digital business operations and disruptive technologies. "The Resource Center will be a valuable channel for HR and employees seeking credible information and resources to make informed decisions at a challenging time."

As employers emerge through this period of crisis, Benefitfocus offers tools and support to enable future return-to-work initiatives. To learn more, the business community is invited to join the ongoing series of webinars to discussing employee well-being, the national relief effort, business continuity strategies and HR best practices to inform employers' pandemic response.

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About Benefitfocus
Benefitfocus (NASDAQ: BNFT) unifies the entire U.S. benefits industry on a single technology platform to protect consumers for life. Our powerful cloud-based software, data-driven insights and thoughtfully-designed services enable employers, insurance brokers, health plans and suppliers to simplify the complexity of benefits administration and deliver health, wealth, property and lifestyle products through a world-class benefits experience. Learn more at www.benefitfocus.com, LinkedIn and Twitter. 

Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Actual results or performance might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: Economic or geopolitical uncertainties or downturns in the general economy; the need to innovate and provide useful products and services; our ability to compete effectively; management of growth; the use of personal data in our services and its' privacy and security; and other risks associated with our business; the immature and volatile nature of the market for our products and services; risks related to changing healthcare and other applicable regulations; our ability to maintain our culture and recruit and retain qualified personnel;  and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in our SEC filings, copies of which are available free of charge within the Investor Relations section of the Benefitfocus website at http://investor.benefitfocus.com/sec-filings or upon request from our investor relations department. Benefitfocus assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. 

SOURCE Benefitfocus, Inc.

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http://www.benefitfocus.com