CHARLESTON, S.C., April 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/
-- Benefitfocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT), a leading
cloud-based benefits management platform and services provider,
today announced the release of the Consumer Benefits Coverage
Index™ ("the Index"). The Index creates a model for
evaluating how adequately a consumer is protected through the
employer-based benefits they've purchased. The value of the Index
lies not only in serving as a benchmark for consumers to compare
their own benefits coverage to that of their peers, but also to
provide greater awareness on how they could better protect
themselves and their families. For its initial findings,
Benefitfocus examined a representative sample of U.S. consumers and
determined that the average consumer may not be adequately
protected in key areas, and that there is opportunity for
additional education when it comes to benefit selection.
"We provide insight for the entire benefits industry comprised
of employers, brokers, carriers and product suppliers into the
purchasing behavior and coverage gaps present among consumers,"
said Ray August, President &
CEO, Benefitfocus. "The Index processes millions of enrollment
transactions from our platform and transforms them into a simple
model for employers and consumers to evaluate the fitness of their
benefit decisions and raise their benefits IQ."
Created by Benefitfocus using its proprietary, annually
recurring research (previously published in the State of Employee
Benefits reports), the Index draws on anonymized, actual benefits
enrollment data pulled from the BENEFITFOCUS® Platform. The Index
examines consumers' spending decisions specific to voluntary
benefits, defined for the purposes of the Index as those
non-medical benefits offered through an employer but paid for
partially or solely by the consumer. These benefits span across
three product categories—health (e.g., dental, vision or health
advocacy), wealth (e.g., life insurance or health spending
accounts) and lifestyle (e.g., identity theft protection or pet
insurance). Each benefits category in the Index is scored on a
scale from 0 to 100 (with an aggregate score range of 0-300),
reflecting the average spend by a consumer in these categories
relative to their peer group. Scores can fall in one of three
ranges that approximate optimal and sub-optimal coverage based on
how similar or dissimilar an individual's coverage is to their peer
group.
"Our goal is to use our massive data intelligence to drive
greater awareness of the benefits purchasing habits of working
Americans," said Jennifer Clark,
Director of Artificial Intelligence Strategy at Benefitfocus. "For
employers, this data set may help them optimize their benefits
offerings based on their employee demographics. For consumers, the
Index sheds much-needed light into purchasing habits and may lead
to a better understanding of what makes sense for individuals based
on their salary, age, etc. – which are constantly changing. The
Index provides a framework to refer to when considering coverage
and life transitions."
To learn more about CBCI visit
https://www.benefitfocus.com/consumer-benefits-coverage-index.
About Benefitfocus
Benefitfocus (NASDAQ: BNFT) unifies
the entire U.S. benefits industry on a single technology platform
to protect consumers' health, wealth 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: the need to innovate and provide useful products and
services; our ability to compete effectively; our ability to
recruit and retain qualified personnel and maintain our culture;
management of growth; the immature and volatile nature of the
market for our products and services; risks related to changing
healthcare and other applicable regulations; privacy; security and
other risks associated with our business; 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.