Charleston, S.C. – Feb. 4, 2010 – Benefitfocus® announced today a partnership with Pierce Group Benefits and Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company to provide Benefitfocus HR InTouch™, 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 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. 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.