Minnesota Life Insurance Co. now offers mobile access to its transactional site, www.lifebenefits.com. Users can view their accounts with mobile devices and have the option to transfer to the transaction page on the full site.
(800) 843-8358 | www.lifebenefits.com | info@minnesotalife.com
Mercer has launched Mercer Marketplace, a private benefits exchange designed to help employers more effectively manage benefits costs while providing employees and their dependents with options, flexibility and service.
(212) 345-7000 | www.mercer.us/articles/mercer-exchange-suite | info@mercer.com
ING U.S. has launched the Compass Accident and Critical Illness Insurance suite of products in an effort to bring a new approach to voluntary and employee-selected insurance benefits. The benefits suite includes defined benefit policies that provide plan participants fixed payments for covered diagnoses, even if the expenses of an accident or illness are covered by the employer’s medical plan. These voluntary benefits can help participants in high-deductible health plans reduce out-of-pocket costs.
(866) 566-2316 | www.ingemployeebenefits.com |network@ingemployeebenefits.com
Aflac has introduced two interactive online tools, one designed to help businesses assess their current benefits programs and another to help consumers identify gaps in their insurance coverage. The Aflac Wellbeing Assessment Tool allows consumers to determine whether their existing insurance coverage provides adequate financial protection, and the Aflac Benefits Assessment Tool allows business decision-makers to compare their organizations’ benefits with those of other Aflac clients using benchmarks.
(800) 992-3522 | www.aflac.com | info@aflac.com
Sun Life Financial Inc. and bswift have joined together to offer new and streamlined online services for helping HR professionals manage online benefits administration and enrollment more effectively. The partnership allows brokers and HR executives to offer Sun Life group and voluntary benefits products through bswift’s online technology. The services guide consumers through the enrollment and evidence of insurability processes.
(800) 786-5433 | www.sunlife.com/us | usweb_general_information@sunlife.com
Care.com has launched a national Broker Program targeting small and midsized U.S. companies. This program allows employers to offer Care.com’s full range of care solutions to employees. Services include options for child care, special-needs care and pet care.
(781) 642-5919 | www.care.com | info@care.com
Sun Life Financial Inc. and benefitsCONNECT have joined to offer Sun Life group and voluntary benefits programs online. The partnership offers HR and benefits professionals a cost-effective and time-efficient way to provide and administer group and voluntary benefits packages.
(800) 786-5433 | www.sunlife.com/us | info@sunlife.com
Aflac has announced the launch of Aflac Vision Now, a vision care insurance plan that offers enhanced benefits with improved benefits payments for regular eye examinations and vision correction procedures but no increase in premiums. Three options allow individuals to choose the plan that best suits their needs.
(800) 992-3522 | www.aflac.com | info@aflac.com
BeneTrac has announced the launch of an improved user interface. This interface is designed to make it easier for brokers, HR managers and employees to manage health benefits and other insurance plans online when using the BeneTrac platform.
(619) 788-5800 | www.benetrac.com | salessupport@benetrac.com
Lincoln Financial Group is now offering Lincoln VisionConnect, a fully insured vision plan for employer benefits packages. The benefits plan provides participants access to a national network of providers and a range of vision benefits from glasses and contacts to preventive care.
(800) 423-2765 | www.lfg.com | clientservices@lfg.com
The Workplace Solutions unit of Care.com Inc. has launched a national broker program targeting small to midsize U.S. companies. Services offered include options and resources for child care and special needs care, as well as a senior-care planning program.
(855) 227-3444 | www.care.com | info@care.com
Flexible Benefit Service Corp. has launched InsureXSolutions, a private health insurance exchange. This exchange is built on a defined contribution funding model that offers uninsured employers a way to set their own budgets and assist employees with health care expenses.
(888) 353-9178 | www.flexiblebenefit.com | info@flexiblebenefit.com
OutsourceOne has partnered with Certifi Inc. to begin providing automated employee benefits auditing services to employers. The services are designed to help businesses reduce their benefits costs and improve delivery of services to eligible employees and their families.
(888) 468-8268 | www.outsourceone.com | info@outsourceone.com
Benz Communications has launched Bento, a web-based service designed to help employers develop and maintain effective, year-round and company-branded benefits communications. The website can help employers reduce costs by eliminating the need for printed materials.
(888) 550-5251 | www.bentobenefits.com | info@benzcommunications.com
The First Rehabilitation Life Insurance Co. has launched a line of insurance plans called BaseLine. BaseLine plans offer employees a single simple rate with no rate tiers and no underwritten rates or charges. The plans have a guaranteed issue and do not require complicated enrollment forms.
(800) 365-4999 | www.firstrehab.com | customerservice@firstrehab.com
Total Rewards Software Inc. has developed CandidateStatements.com, a cloud-based software tool that combines compensation and benefits statements and an onboarding portal for new hires. The tool is designed to help employers quickly secure top job candidates and reduce time-to-hire by providing compensation and benefits information in an easy-to-understand format. Within minutes, employers can create a personal website that displays the value of their total rewards to prospective employees and explains how those rewards mesh with compensation and benefits plans. The software demonstrates to candidates and new hires an employer’s compensation package in a branded website experience that links to employer pages with details on company culture, values, mission statement and history.
(866) 478-6428 | www.candidatestatements.com | sales@totalcompbuilder.com
The Jellyvision Lab Inc. has released a new version of ALEX, the company’s cloud-based, virtual benefits counselor. ALEX is designed to explain employee benefits in an interactive and entertaining manner. Recent enhancements include mobile applications, health fund and incentive education, and a Spanish language module. The upgrades help to assist employers and plan sponsors in communicating insurance benefits to participants. ALEX blends a technology platform with humor and jargon-free language to make benefits options easy to understand.
(312) 340-6405 | www.jellyvisionbenefitscounselor.com | info@jellyvisionbenefitscounselor.com
Flexible Benefit Service Corp. has joined with Health Care Service Corp. to develop and offer a new integrated health savings account service. The FlexHSA Plan is now available to small and medium-sized employers with Blue Cross and Blue Shield health benefits plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Listed directly on health plan applications, the FlexHSA Plan is designed to make the process to create such accounts seamless for employers and employees. In any state, employers with fewer than 2,000 employees that have a qualified high-deductible health plan with Blue Cross and Blue Shield can also select the FlexHSA Plan and automatically begin the enrollment process for participating employees.
(866) 472-5385 | www.flexhsaplan.com | info@flexhsaplan.com
GlobalPay Inc. has announced the release of a fully integrated Internet-based payroll tool. Users can now manage payrolls for facilities in multiple countries and currencies. This software as a service can process corporate payrolls in different languages from a single platform to help streamline payroll procedures and to reduce administrative costs.
(800) 867-9045, ext. 1010 | www.globalpaysoftware.com | info@globalpaysoftware.com
The Jellyvision Lab has added several new enhancements to its virtual employee benefits counselor, ALEX. ALEX is an HR management and benefits tool that offers benefits communication to plan participants. The cloud-based tool is designed to help employees determine their best fit for employer-provided benefits. ALEX offers plan participants a personal experience. After counseling participants, ALEX offers access to a secure and personal website with details about the employer's benefits options. Users can rate ALEX's performance so employers have immediate feedback on the process.
(312) 340-6405 | www.meetalex.com | info@meetalex.com
Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co. has launched a line of employer stop-loss coverage called RSL Risk Solutions. This program offers coverage designed to help employers maximize control of health care spending. RSL Risk Solutions features specific risk (individual) and aggregate risk (total) coverage for businesses with 50 or more health plan participants. RSL Risk Solutions is available in many states for health care policies that have effective dates beginning Jan. 1, 2012.
(800) 351-7500 | www.reliancestandard.com | customer.service@rsli.com
Prime Therapeutics has launched four options that offer employers cost-effective ways to provide prescription benefits to employees. One of the new prescription plans, Reliance, features a spending guarantee of $47 per prescription. Reliance is designed to encourage behaviors that keep individuals healthy and help to reduce health care costs. The other three plans are called Essential, Keystone and Premier. The Essential plan is designed to provide health plan sponsors the greatest cost savings by encouraging mail delivery and use of generic medications. The Keystone and Premier options offer a wider range of prescription benefits and medication choices at higher costs than the other two options.
(800) 858-0723 | www.primetherapeutics.com | info@primetherapeutics.com
Emerge Workplace Solutions has developed a low-interest emergency loan product and financial coaching service for workers. With this new financial product and service, employers can offer employees loan options that help build credit scores, savings and financial literacy. The loans’ interest annual percentage rates are guaranteed to never exceed 20 percent. Emerge loans use an innovative credit assessment system that rewards long-term employees with lower interest rates.
(800) 791-1725 | www.emergeworkplacesolutions.com | info@emergeloan.com
Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co. has launched two group coverage options designed to help employees protect their financial security in the event of sickness or injury. Voluntary critical illness and voluntary accident insurance plans can help eliminate the financial gaps caused by a critical illness or accident that might not be covered by medical, disability and life insurance coverage. Voluntary critical illness insurance offers plan participants a fixed, lump-sum payment upon diagnosis of a critical illness such as cancer, heart disease or kidney disease. The payment is made directly to the insured and can be used for any purpose, such as deductibles, medical co-payments and travel expenses. Voluntary accident insurance provides a range of fixed, lump-sum benefits for injuries resulting from accidents. Payment is made directly to the insured and can be used for any purpose. All coverage is guaranteed and requires no medical underwriting.
(800) 351-7500 | www.reliancestandard.com | customer.service@rsli.com
AlwaysCare has expanded its national dental provider network for plan participants. The network now includes more than 144,000 providers nationwide and offers more choices for participants who want to save on out-of-pocket expenses by using an in-network provider. AlwaysCare offers easy-to-use online tools for group administrators and participants, plus group enrollment support for insurance agents and brokers.
(888) 729-5433 | www.alwayscarebenefits.com | quotes@alwayscarebenefits.com
BeneTrac has launched an online benefits management service called BeneTrac Gold. The website offers human resource professionals and benefits managers an array of web-based resources that can help eliminate paperwork and automate the administration of benefits plans. BeneTrac Gold allows HR managers, benefits administrators and employees to add, update and manage benefits information automatically and provides administrative users a clear and up-to-date snapshot of an organization’s benefits offerings at any time. BeneTrac can integrate information and records from Excel spreadsheets, databases, paper documents and other sources to build a comprehensive benefits management site and automatically evaluate the enrollment activities of plan participants.
(877) 645-4342 | www.benetrac.com | info@benetrac.com
WellNet Health Plans has partnered with the preferred provider organization network OneNet to offer a new medical benefits program for small and medium-sized businesses. The program is designed to help employers reduce health care costs and still offer access to more than 77,000 health care practitioners and 450 hospitals. Employers can set the terms of their benefits plans by choosing deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums and co-insurance levels that suit their specific needs. Benefits plans are tailored for each organization, and employers with as few as 10 employees can participate.
(800) 727-1733 | www.wellnet.com | service@wellnet.com
Alicare Inc. has launched an array of services for health savings accounts, health reimbursement arrangements and flexible spending accounts. These services are designed to provide plan sponsors with tools to help lower insurance costs, reduce tax burdens, promote plan participant wellness and increase plan participant satisfaction.
(914) 367-5000 | http://www.alicare.com | info@alicare.com
Aflac is now offering a new voluntary dental insurance policy. Aflac Dental provides policyholders multiple levels of coverage to choose from and stronger benefits ranging from higher annual maximum payments to enhanced orthodontic coverage. Aflac Dental is designed to streamline and ease administrative burdens for employers. There are no participation requirements, network restrictions, deductibles or annual premium reviews. The Aflac Dental policies are designed to meet the needs of employers in the face of growing employee demand for improved benefits packages.
(800) 992-3522 | http://www.aflac.com/business | benefitservices@aflac.com
U.S. Bank Healthcare Payment Solutions has expanded its consumer product services to help make consumer-directed health care plans easier to manage. Integrated card-based payment solutions from U.S. Bank allow employers to lower administrative costs while offering competitive benefits plans that provide tax savings to employees. U.S. Bank is complementing its health savings account services by adding a menu of payment cards that can be used with flexible spending accounts, limited-purpose flexible spending accounts and health reimbursement arrangements. By managing these tax-advantaged accounts together, employers can reduce time and expense and simplify benefits administration for employees.
(866) 285-0933 | www.usbank.com | usbankhealthcare@usbank.com
LifeSecure Insurance Co. has launched a worksite long-term-care insurance program called OMTM One-for-Many LTC. It is designed to address the needs and fit the choices of most employees and to work within most workplaces. The insurance is available to employers with as few as three employees and provides for simplified issue underwriting.
(866) 582-7701 | www.yourlifesecure.com | info@lifesecureltc.com
The Guardian Life Insurance Co. has added several enhancements to its voluntary disability products. The insurance products can help employers expand their benefit offerings to employees while reducing the cost for coverage. The changes were designed to make enrollment easier and the plans more accessible at a time when employees have more responsibility for their benefit choices. The new voluntary benefits available through Guardian Life may be sponsored by the employer, but are fully or predominantly paid by employees and plan participants. Disability Choice is the brand name for Guardian Life’s voluntary disability program. It offers a choice of long-term disability and short-term disability benefits. It differs from traditional disability plans because it provides benefits based on increments or flat amounts as opposed to a percentage of employees’ salaries. This approach can eliminate the need for an employee census and can help to simplify the enrollment process.
(212) 598-8000 | www.guardianlife.com | info@guardianlife.com
PayFlex Systems USA Inc. has launched a model for health savings accounts (HSAs). The PayFlex HSA platform is designed to provide new support and options to employers, financial institutions and health insurance plans that offer HSAs to consumers and employees. The accounts offer more control for employers and insurers. PayFlex’s HSA service gives employers and health plan customers the choice of selecting the banks or financial institutions for their accounts.
(800) 284-4885 | www.payflex.com | hsainfo@payflex.com
Through a cooperative agreement, a group of principals and consultants from Hewitt Associates have left to launch the independent executive compensation consulting firm Meridian Compensation Partners LLC. Meridian, which will serve clients throughout North America, will be one of the largest independent executive compensation consulting firms in the U.S. During 2010, the firm’s operations will expand to include 17 partners and 40 total consultants. Meridian’s corporate headquarters will be in Lake Forest, Ill., and it will have offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York and Toronto.
(847) 235-3601 | www.meridiancp.com | info@meridiancp.com
For SHRM’s complete and searchable vendor directory of HR products and services, visit www.shrm.org/hrvendordirectory.