Paychex enhances private benefit marketplace

Paychex, a payroll, HR, insurance and benefit outsourcing solutions for small- to medium-sized businesses, is partnering with ConnectedHealth to bring more tools and financial wellness resources to its private benefit exchange.

The product, My Thrive Score, will give consumers a personal “credit score” for their health and financial security, providing a view of four key cornerstones of their lives — health, income, assets and future savings — to its Paychex Insurance Agency Personal Marketplace.

Additionally, enhancements to the exchange’s employer administration portal “make it easy for businesses to give employees access to flexible, low-cost benefits by helping them shop for and enroll in individual health insurance, including private insurance plans as well as plans eligible for a tax credit,” the company states.

Also see: "Cigna private exchange membership doubles."

This exchange is intended for employees who are not eligible for group coverage to shop, compare and purchase individual health insurance from a variety of insurance carriers.

"With the success of our private marketplace in its first year and the growing interest from our clients for additional ways they can provide low-cost benefit options to their employees, we’re excited to be offering even more resources for employers and their employees through the latest enhancements to our Personal Marketplace,” says Kevin Hill, the company’s vice president of insurance and HR Solutions services.

The new tools are offered in collaboration with health IT company ConnectedHealth.  “As the Affordable Care Act continues to unfold and 2016 open enrollment gears up nationwide … our expanded solution offers unique benefits strategies to help small employers and their employees maintain affordable health insurance,” says ConnectedHealth President Joe Donlan.

Earlier this week, EBA reported ConnectedHealth’s own private benefit exchange, Smart Choices Marketplace, has seen more traffic in the first week of the current open enrollment period than the first full month of the 2015 season.

Of the traffic to the marketplace, one-third of consumers were shopping for subsidy-eligible plans and more than half of consumers are shopping for plans and/or have started or completed the application process for medical coverage — up 31% from week one of the 2015 season.

In 2014, more than 3,000 Paychex clients expressed interest in offering individual exchange options to their employees.