Charleston, S.C. — Sept. 22
Benefitfocus announced a new set of mobile, self-service, shopping and consumer engagement tools that transform benefit enrollment and communication. The announcements took place Wednesday at the company’s Prevue event, which was hosted by Benefitfocus President and CEO Shawn Jenkins and attended by Benefitfocus clients, partners and industry experts.
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 employers in all types of industries. During his keynote address Jenkins highlighted customers such as 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.
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.
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.
Source: Benefitfocus
