Benefitfocus Fall Software Release Offers AI-Based Advancements and An Expanded Portfolio

CHARLESTON, S.C., Oct. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Benefitfocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT), a leading cloud-based benefits management platform and services provider, today announced several product and catalog enhancements designed to boost consumers' education around benefits and make it easier for employers to streamline the benefits selection process. The upgrades demonstrate Benefitfocus' commitment to creating and expanding on its hyperconnected ecosystem for employers, suppliers, consumers and brokers, leveraging data and artificial intelligence (AI) designed to enable more meaningful interactions and new sources of value to customers.

Workflows utilizing the BenefitSAIGE^® artificial intelligence (AI) platform offer data-driven, tailored insights and an easily-managed communication system around their employer's benefit options. For the first time, in addition to the industry-leading pre-configured health, wealth, property and lifestyle products available as part of Benefitfocus' BenefitsPlace^®, consumers will have the opportunity to access personal auto insurance underwritten by national insurers. Employers will also be able to offer employees an alternate payment method via their personal credit card, thus reducing the administrative payroll burden for HR Administrators.

"We're especially excited about this release because it directly addresses many of the challenges employers and individuals face around benefits, by giving them the tools they need to become more educated in their selections through AI-generated insights and messages," said Benefitfocus CTO Jim Restivo. "We are also providing the ability to leverage group discounts for products, purchased by an individual with additional options for paying for the benefits they select."

Upgrades Driven by BenefitSAIGE AI platform

• Smart Moments – Consumers can receive insights that are data-driven and reflect their stated preferences. The integrated AI engine makes use of each consumer's unique data while also factoring benefit preferences of more than 25 million consumers processed by the Benefitfocus platform. Leveraging this data, Smart Moments brings awareness of benefits based on personal data and preferences. To help further educate the consumer, each Smart Moment is accompanied by an easily consumable and decision-relevant Insight, delivered in the form of a chart or statistic.
• Smart Moments Console – The new and differentiated experience provided via Smart Moments and Insights can be easily managed by the Benefitfocus system administrator via the Smart Moments Console. The console provides a singular point of control designed for effective and efficient communication with employees; sending tailored messages at specified instances to a subset or the entirety of an employee population. The console distinguishes between Scheduled, Event-Based and On-Demand messages. In addition, administrators are provided options for personalizing messages and specifying follow-up action.

"The broad range of communication tools was one of the main reasons we decided to partner with Benefitfocus. With how quickly we were growing, we needed a platform where associates could get all of the information they needed around their benefits and our team could take advantage of new tools to drive communication efforts."
Erin Penland, CEBS, Sr. Benefits Specialist, Designer Brands

Increasing Connectivity across the Benefits Ecosystem
Benefitfocus offers two new ways to deliver more meaningful benefits with less friction and greater ease of processing and communication, thus enabling an effective hyperconnected ecosystem. 

• SelfPay – SelfPay provides employers with the ability to offer an alternate payment method (direct via credit card) to their employees. It helps expand benefits offerings without introducing any payroll deduction administrative burden--which often deters employers from providing more robust benefit programs to attract and retain top talent.
• Personal Auto Offerings – Employers can now offer auto coverage from nationally recognized carriers at discounted prices year-round, all within a simplified consumer shopping experience that brings their benefits into one user experience. Using our library of API connections, employees are now able to easily obtain rates and quotes from their employers' chosen carriers directly from Benefitfocus.

Consumer Feedback Feeds Innovation
The Fall software release was driven by feedback received via Benefitfocus' Consumer NPS survey, which is helping to shape the evolution of its consumer experience. That feedback and the advancements produced from it continue Benefitfocus' focus on the consumer by delivering solutions that provide wisdom, increase productivity and improve lives.

Connect with Benefitfocus
To learn more about these updates and the Benefitfocus MarketPlace, click here.

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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, carriers and suppliers 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; the immature and volatile nature of the market for our products and services; our ability to compete effectively; management of growth; our ability to maintain our culture and recruit and retain qualified personnel;   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.