Benefitfocus Unveils New Consumer Engagement Technology and Apps at Prevue Event

CHARLESTON, S.C., Sept. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Benefitfocus has announced a new set of mobile, self-service, shopping and consumer engagement tools that transform benefit enrollment and communication. The announcements took place yesterday at the Company's inaugural Prevue event, which was hosted by Benefitfocus President and CEO Shawn Jenkins and attended by Benefitfocus clients, partners and industry experts. Others joined the event online, viewing it live on the Benefitfocus website.

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Jenkins kicked off Prevue by announcing that 14 million consumers now use the BENEFITFOCUS® Platform for online shopping, enrollment, benefits management and data exchange. Benefitfocus clients include more than 300,000 employers in all types of industries and the nation's top insurance companies. During his keynote address Jenkins highlighted customers like Aetna, which launched an integrated sales, enrollment and billing platform earlier this year, and Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania, which revealed its new consumer shopping portal built on the Benefitfocus Platform.

"Our clients are some of the most innovative, forward-thinking companies out there," said Jenkins. "That includes our insurance carrier customers and employers like Brooks Brothers, who joined me on stage at Prevue to talk about how Benefitfocus technology is bringing choice and empowerment to their associates. It's exciting to share these stories because together we're delivering something completely unique and transformative to the market."

Prevue featured seven new product announcements focused on improving consumer engagement and the benefits shopping and enrollment experience. Highlights include the next generation of the Plan Shopping App, which helps consumers understand the relationship between their healthcare usage and costs for different types of plans. Consumers can now estimate out-of-pocket medical costs based on industry averages, company averages or their actual claims data and access the Plan Shopping App on their smartphones. Benefitfocus also introduced a new cost tracking tool that helps consumers see the impact on their paychecks as they enroll in their benefits.

The Total Compensation App is a new employee education and retention tool, incorporating salary and benefit costs so employees understand their company's financial commitment to their total compensation package. With the app, employees can access their total compensation statements throughout the year, online, at any time.

The new Benefitfocus Document Center eliminates paper processing for dependent verification and life events. When employees have a life event that requires documentation, they can simply upload a photo of a marriage certificate, birth certificate or other legal document into their document center for the HR team to review and approve. HR teams now have the ability to trigger email and SMS alerts and notify employees of documentation requirements or outstanding Open Enrollment tasks.

"Benefitfocus offers our associates the same quality, personal service that Brooks Brothers is known for in the retail industry," said Justin Watras, Director of Associate Engagement and Communication for Brooks Brothers, who was a guest speaker at Prevue. "Providing high-touch, customized technology empowers our associates and helps us maintain our position as the employer of choice."

In May, Benefitfocus revealed the public availability of its API, allowing developers to create apps that complement the Company's core enrollment, communication and benefits management capabilities. Several new third-party apps launched at Prevue, including voluntary benefit apps from ING, Unum and Aflac, as well as apps for genetic wellness, identity protection and charitable giving from Navigenics, InfoArmor and GiveBack.

"We are doing so many exciting things at Benefitfocus, and what ties it all together is our commitment to design and engineering," said Jenkins. "That commitment comes through in the success stories of our clients, the partnerships with our developers and the accelerated growth of our company. I feel honored to share these milestones at events like Prevue, and this is just the beginning of what's to come."  

A video of the full Prevue keynote address will be available soon on the Benefitfocus website. For more information about Benefitfocus technology, please contact [email protected].

About Benefitfocus

Benefitfocus is the largest healthcare and voluntary benefits software provider in the U.S. with 14,082,479 consumers, 308,574 employers, 60,528 agents and 3,563 carrier representatives live on the Benefitfocus Platform. Benefitfocus offers a single Web-based platform for benefit shopping, enrollment, management and industry-standard data exchange. Benefitfocus – All Your Benefits. One Place. www.benefitfocus.com

Benefitfocus.com, Inc.
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[email protected]

SOURCE Benefitfocus