CHARLESTON, S.C., July 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Benefitfocus,
Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT), a leading cloud-based benefits management
platform and services provider, highlighted today its ongoing
commitment to market-leading benefits that appeal to a
multi-generational, diverse workforce and offer employees financial
security. Through its BenefitsPlace® platform, Benefitfocus has
partnered with several leading specialty benefit suppliers –
CommonBond for Business™, Gradvisor and MyKlovr – who
offer assistance to employees and their dependents at key moments
in the college planning and payment lifecycle.
"Let's pause for a moment to recognize that in the U.S. we are
near crisis with student loan debt and college graduates' ability
to repay over $1.5 trillion in
student loans," said Ray August,
President & CEO of Benefitfocus. "HR managers are challenged
every day with attracting and retaining the best talent for their
companies. And an employee's ability to save enough for their kid's
college or repay their own student loans is a daily stressor that
impacts work performance. To solve this, employers need to provide
a broad set of employee benefits that gives employees peace of mind
and financial security. Our BenefitsPlace partners do just
that."
Benefitfocus BenefitsPlace® provides employers, brokers and
medical insurance carriers the ability to offer market-leading
specialty benefits products from more than 40 leading brands. The
Platform provides a simplified enrollment experience that
brings all categories of voluntary benefits together in one
place. As part of its commitment to providing employers the
opportunity to offer valuable benefits in the wealth and financial
security sector to their employees, Benefitfocus has partnered with
several leading providers in college lifecycle planning.
Saving for college - Gradvisor is a digital platform
company that delivers personalized advice to employees so they can
open and track the best college savings plan for their needs. It
applies algorithms and data to recommend the best 529 plan for an
employee, by factoring in their financial situation, geographic
location, goals and comfort with risk.
529 plans are investment vehicles designed to encourage saving
for future higher education expenses of a designated beneficiary,
while offering significant tax benefits. While 529 accounts are
growing in popularity, only 11% of employers offered them to
employees in 2019, according to a study conducted by the Society of
Human Resource Management (SHRM).
College admissions - myKlovr enables students
and parents to leverage artificial intelligence to receive
personalized, step-by-step guidance to increase their chances of
being admitted into the college that suits them best. Members
receive support for the whole college-planning process, from school
identification to academic and financial readiness. All backed by
the myKlovr College Acceptance Promise – a money-back guarantee if
a student is not admitted to any college from a tier that matches
his or her profile.
Studies have shown that for almost 90% of working parents,
their children's education and college preparation is of utmost
importance. While 90% of today's high school students plan to go to
college, 70% of public high schools lack college counselors. For
those that do have counselors, their student load exceeds 500,
leaving less than an hour per year per student.
Student loan benefits - CommonBond for
Business™ is a comprehensive student loan benefits
platform that provides personalized guidance on the best way to
manage and repay student debt. Additionally, the platform is able
to facilitate employer sponsored student loan repayment programs,
positioning employers to attract and retain top talent in a tight
labor market. According to data compiled by the Federal Reserve,
the average student loan balance is more than $32,000, with the total amount of debt being held
by students exceeding $1.5 trillion
and impacting more than 44 million Americans.
Benefitfocus is exploring other options for assisting with the
college admission and payment process as part of its ongoing goal
to connect an increasingly diverse workforce with their benefits
needs, now and in the future.
To find out more about the full range of health, wealth,
property and lifestyle benefits offered by Benefitfocus, go to
https://www.benefitfocus.com/solutions/benefitsplace and review the
full products catalog.
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.
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 maintain our culture and recruit and
retain qualified personnel; 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.