Mercer Introduces Private Benefits Exchange

January 10, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Mercer launched a private benefits exchange designed to help employers more effectively manage their benefit costs.

Mercer Marketplace will allow employers and employees to access a broad array of benefits – both traditional and voluntary – from multiple insurance providers, along with education tools and support to help employees customize their choices to better fit their needs.

Employers eligible to use the exchange — those with at least 100 employees — will be able to determine how much to contribute toward the cost of their benefits program and can select from a wide range of insured and self-funded products to offer to their workforce. The platform includes full benefits outsourcing and will support employees with call center and online decision support during the enrollment process and beyond.

The marketplace will provide employers with an opportunity to continue offering competitive benefits to their employees, while actively managing spending and reducing their administrative responsibilities. Employees will have access to a broader array of benefits, as well as the ability to tailor those benefits to their particular needs, with the necessary support to make appropriate decisions.

“The convergence of a number of critical factors – the unsustainable rise in benefit costs, healthcare reform, ‘consumer-driven’ solutions, and improving technology – is transforming the provision of employee benefits,” said Julio A. Portalatin, president and CEO of Mercer. “Mercer Marketplace provides our clients with a market-leading platform and service to support their employees in this transformation.”  

The marketplace utilizes a cloud-based technology platform developed by Benefitfocus that is customized for Mercer clients and helps employers streamline the administration of their benefits plans. It joins the other Mercer solutions that make up the Mercer Exchange Suite, which includes a Medicare exchange, voluntary benefits and collective offerings including Mercer Health Advantage.

More information is available here.  

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