CHARLESTON, S.C., March 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Benefitfocus,
Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT), a leading cloud-based benefits management
platform and services provider, today announced the availability of
a wider range of benefits products on The Benefitfocus Platform®
for personal wellbeing and security at every stage in life. For the
first time, personal lines insurance, including auto and renters
coverage, is now available to brokers through Benefitfocus
BenefitsPlace™. The company has also added greater choice of
consumer-directed healthcare (CDH) account options and expanded the
life insurance product offerings available within
BenefitsPlace.
The new offerings made available through BenefitsPlace provide
employers and brokers the ability to offer employees products from
leading brands as part of a simplified enrollment experience that
brings all benefits together in one place. Insurance
carriers and specialty product suppliers gain a dedicated digital
distribution and enrollment channel to more than 23 million
consumers on the Benefitfocus Platform.
"These additions to offerings available to brokers within
BenefitsPlace reflect extensive research on what types of new
products consumers wanted, identifying auto and home insurance as
the biggest areas of need," said Ray
August, CEO, Benefitfocus. "Offering property options
through licensed brokers gives customers access to industry-leading
brands and outstanding coverage at discounted rates they wouldn't
be able to individually access. In the future, we look forward to
delivering further on our promise to provide a broader range of
specialty offerings so employees can bring their best selves to
work."
New Insurance Products Provide Flexible,
Personalized Consumer Protection
Employers and their
brokers now have the option to offer workforces and clients access
to personal auto, renters and life insurance through BenefitsPlace.
The platform also uniquely allows employees to purchase insurance
at any time during the year, not just during open enrollment,
giving consumers the flexibility to purchase coverage to meet their
personal needs.
Personal auto insurance will initially be offered by three major
insurers, all of which have "A" ratings or better by A.M. Best
Company. The breadth of coverage options can meet drivers in nearly
all categories, including preferred, standard and non-standard
coverage. Bristol West Insurance Group®, a member of the Farmers
Insurance Group of Companies®, is now part of
BenefitsPlace, focusing exclusively on private passenger
automobiles across the United
States.
MetLife Auto & Home®, a leading personal lines insurance
group, insuring nearly 3.5 million autos, homes, boats, and other
property nationwide, is now part of BenefitsPlace, providing auto
insurance products and experience to customers across the country
through the platform. Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance
Company and its subsidiaries, Warwick,
RI, operate collectively under the MetLife Auto & Home
brand. Their coverage, rates, discounts, and policy features vary
by state and product, and are available in most states to those who
qualify.
The first provider of renters insurance to join BenefitsPlace is
ToggleSM, launched by Farmers Insurance® in 2018. Toggle
provides a modern, fully digital, customizable insurance
subscription designed to meet the unique needs and budget of
today's renter.
BenefitsPlace will also include Afficiency, an InsurTech that is
working with life insurance carriers to create innovative solutions
for BenefitsPlace. Together, Benefitfocus and Afficiency are
building a brand new portable voluntary benefit, that will be
exclusively tailored for BenefitsPlace and the brokers it
serves.
Expanded CDH, COBRA and direct-billing options provide
greater employer/employee choice
In addition to the
Benefitfocus consumer directed healthcare account administration
launched in 2016, the company will also offer CDH options through
best-in-class service providers PayFlex and WageWorks. The new
providers are integrated into BenefitsPlace through real-time API
connections, ensuring the data exchange is synchronized, accurate
and available to employees in real time. The new experience also
includes year-round education and communications to help consumers
maximize their CDH contributions – including the triple-tax
benefits of funding their HSAs, as well as ensuring they understand
how to alter contributions all year long as things change in their
lives.
These additions to BenefitsPlace represent the beginning of the
company's expansion into an even greater array of differentiated
solutions, which Benefitfocus is exploring through InnovationPlace,
its new startup partner program. The goal of InnovationPlace
is to help Benefitfocus enable innovative product and services for
the consumers of BenefitsPlace. The company has recently
welcomed its first InnovationPlace partner, which is an innovator
in women's health. To learn more about InnovationPlace, visit
www.benefitfocus.com.
*Insurance Agency Disclaimer
Insurance products are
offered only through duly licensed and appointed insurance agents,
as well as independent third party agents, including Benefitstore,
Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Benefitfocus.com, Inc.
Benefitstore operates in CA as 627 Benefits Insurance Agency and in
NY as 627 Insurance Broker Agency. The information herein is not an
offer to sell insurance. No binder, insurance policy, change,
addition and/or deletion to insurance coverage goes into effect
unless and until confirmed directly with a licensed agent or
carrier. All coverages are subject to the terms, conditions and
exclusions of the actual policy issued. Not all policies or
coverages are available in every state.
Platform carriers operate independently and are not responsible
for each others' financial obligations. A.M. Best Company ratings
are an independent opinion of financial strength and the ability to
meet ongoing insurance policy and contract obligations. The nine
rating levels are based on a comprehensive quantitative and
qualitative evaluation of balance sheet strength, operating
performance and business profile.
About Benefitfocus
Benefitfocus (NASDAQ: BNFT)
unifies the entire U.S. benefits industry on a single technology
platform to protect consumers' health, wealth, property and
lifestyle. Our powerful cloud-based software, data-driven insights
and thoughtfully-designed services, enable employers, insurance
brokers and carriers to simplify the complexity of benefits
administration and deliver a world-class benefits experience. Learn
more at www.benefitfocus.com, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Safe Harbor Statement
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: our ability to maintain our culture and recruit and retain
qualified personnel; management of growth; the need to innovate and
provide useful products and services; our ability to compete
effectively; the immature and volatile nature of the market for our
products and services; risks related to changing healthcare and
other applicable regulations; 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.
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SOURCE Benefitfocus, Inc.