Pierce Group Benefits and Colonial Life Partner with Benefitfocus for Voluntary Benefits Portal

Benefitfocus® announced a partnership with Pierce Group Benefits and Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company to provide Benefitfocus HR InTouchTM, a centralized platform for benefits enrollment and management. As employers increase the number of voluntary benefits they offer their employees, HR InTouch provides one place for all these benefits and synchronizes the paycheck deductions with employer payroll systems.

In today's market, consumers demand a deeper understanding of their core and voluntary benefits options to truly value their entire benefits package. Employers want to have one place for their employees to enroll in all of their benefits and they want one tool that helps them manage the process.

"Voluntary benefits are a key component of the entire employee benefits package," stated Shawn Jenkins, president and CEO of Benefitfocus. "This partnership with Pierce Group Benefits and Colonial Life will change the way employers and groups enroll in voluntary worksite benefits. We are excited to have the Benefitfocus Platform used in such a unique and powerful way."

HR InTouch provides employers the ability to manage online enrollment as well as human resources (HR) and benefits content while consolidating reporting and payroll tasks. Payroll integration within HR InTouch seamlessly imports employee roster and demographic changes from HR systems. Once benefit elections are approved, changes that impact payroll are sent to the HR/payroll system.

"At Pierce Group Benefits, we feel it is extremely valuable for our clients to access and utilize their voluntary and core benefits through a single enrollment platform," explained Donald Pierce, president of Pierce Group Benefits. "Offering the best benefits and prices, and providing a consolidated experience has always been the cornerstone of our business. Our new partnership with Benefitfocus will allow us to continue to expand these services for our clients."

Through HR InTouch, employees can evaluate benefit options, compare plans and enroll in their benefits from a single portal instead of logging into several different Web sites. HR InTouch's One-Thought-Per-Screen design allows users to review video explanations of voluntary benefits terminology and access decision support tools if they have questions throughout the election process, as well.

The integration of HR InTouch with Colonial Life's Harmony® enrollment system ensures that North Carolina's public schools and community college employees have an interactive user experience during Open Enrollment.

"A smooth process with consistent, clear communication is essential to any effective benefits enrollment," said Ryan Stribling, assistant vice president of Enrollment Technologies at Colonial Life. "The combination of our Harmony enrollment system, the Benefitfocus technology and Pierce Group Benefits' outstanding capabilities will give our customers in North Carolina the kind of seamless enrollment experience they want and deserve."

The look and feel of HR InTouch can be configured to meet the needs of Pierce Group Benefits and Colonial Life, ensuring a seamless experience for their clients. Custom branding, widgets and tools power the site with a look and feel that with which the two companies' clients are familiar. Pierce Group and Colonial Life will also take advantage of video messaging from Benefitfocus to help drive cohesive communications to the more than 150,000 public sector employees in North Carolina the two companies serve in tandem. About Colonial Life Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company is a market leader in providing insurance benefits for employees and their families through their workplace, along with individual benefits education, advanced yet simple-to-use enrollment technology and quality personal service. Colonial Life offers disability, life and supplemental accident and health insurance policies in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Similar policies, if approved, are underwritten in New York by a Colonial Life affiliate, The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company, Worcester, Mass. Colonial Life is based in Columbia, S.C., and is a subsidiary of Unum Group, one of the world's leading providers of employee benefits. For more information about benefits communication, call Colonial Life at (803) 798-7000 or visit www.coloniallife.com. About Pierce Group Benefits Pierce Group Benefits is a full service provider of employee benefits packages. The company serves as a "one-stop-shop" to provide clients with the best benefits and prices from the industry's highest rated companies. Benefits offered include Flexible Spending Accounts with the "FlexCard," short term disability plans, supplemental, group life, dental, vision, and medical insurance plans. Pierce Group Benefits serves numerous North Carolina accounts including public school systems, community colleges, private colleges and universities, hospitals, and government entities and services more than 150,000 participating employees. For more information about Pierce Group Benefits, please call 1-888-662-7500 or visit http://www.piercegroupbenefits.com. About Benefitfocus Benefitfocus is the largest healthcare benefits software provider serving 322,085 employers, 477 insurance carriers and 53.8 million consumers. Our technology solutions reduce costs, expand market share, ensure compliance and improve consumer satisfaction. Benefitfocus gives a competitive edge to carriers, employers and brokers as they help consumers manage complex decisions in an ever-changing healthcare environment. Benefitfocus can be reached at 843-849-7476 or at www.benefitfocus.com.