Benefitfocus’ 2022 State of Employee Benefits™ Report Reveals Employers’ Persistence in Meeting Employee Needs by Diversifying Benefit Offerings

The 2022 report illustrates how employer benefit plan design and employee decisions are shifting by analyzing enrollments from 361 large employers and more than 4.7 million employees across the last five years.

CHARLESTON, S.C., April 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Benefitfocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT), an industry-leading cloud-based benefits administration technology company that simplifies benefits administration for employers, health plans and brokers, today announced the release of its fifth annual State of Employee Benefits^TM report. As employers continue to manage the complexity of the evolving workforce, the report uncovers how employer benefit packages have shifted to meet a more diverse set of needs with the goal of attracting and retaining talent. At the same time, employee enrollment data shows a shift in how employees are prioritizing financial security.

“In its second consecutive year analyzing pandemic era benefit trends, The State of Employee Benefits reveals how employers are responding to new challenges and evolving workforce dynamics,” said Matt Levin, CEO of Benefitfocus. “As employers continue to diversify their benefit offerings to attract and retain talent, improve outcomes, and manage health care costs, effectively administering these benefits, communicating their value, and engaging employees in these programs becomes increasingly critical.”

Interesting findings from the report include:

• Employers are persistent about diversifying health benefits packages, increasing flexibility and placing a greater emphasis on voluntary benefit options across a variety of categories. 77 percent of employers now offer an average of five health plan options between HDHP and PPOs, and nearly two thirds now offer both an HSA and FSA. Further, as employers look to diversify offerings to attract and retain talent amid “The Great Resignation,” HR professionals identified preferred voluntary benefits, including:
• Mental health programs
• Help with financial planning and retirement
• Increased paid time off and sick time
• Educational support
• Employers continue to limit cost-sharing. After nearly two years of weighing the impacts of COVID-19 on health care costs and employee turnover, employers limited out-of-pocket cost increases to two percent or less on average. Employers also picked up the five percent premium increase for individual PPOs.
• Employees are prioritizing financial security, driving a shift in enrollment across PPOs and HDHPs, and an increase in adoption of voluntary benefits.
• HDHP elections experienced a significant decline in 2022 for the first time in three years when employees had a choice between a PPO and HDHP.
• One in four employees selected hospital indemnity coverage while more than a third enrolled in voluntary accident and critical illness plans.

“The report’s findings demonstrate how HR and benefits have evolved to an entirely new level over the past year,” said Tina Provancal, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Benefitfocus. “Increasingly complex benefit programs combined with growing expectations of today’s workforce are reinforcing the need for employers to partner with a technology provider that prioritizes the employee experience and the need to increase engagement in benefit programs by delivering exceptional support while leveraging data to drive smarter, more cost-effective benefit decisions.”

The State of Employee Benefits 2022 was compiled by aggregating and analyzing enrollment transactions of 361 large employers (+1,000 employees) within the Benefitfocus customer base, representing more than 4.7 million employees in total. This year’s report also includes insights and perspectives based on sponsored surveys. Click here to access and download the full report.

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About Benefitfocus

Benefitfocus (NASDAQ: BNFT) is a cloud-based benefits administration technology company committed to helping our customers, and the people they serve, get the most out of their health care and benefit programs. Through exceptional service and innovative SaaS solutions, we aim to be the safest set of hands for our customers helping to simplify the complexity of benefits administration while delivering an experience that engages people and unlocks the potential for better health and improved outcomes.  Our mission is simple: to improve lives with benefits.

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SOURCE Benefitfocus, Inc.