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Namely, Cigna Brings New Benefits Exchange to Mid-Size Companies

Namely Exchange launches today enabling businesses to offer employees a menu of world-class benefits plans in an intuitive online marketplace

NEW YORK — Namely, the modern all-in-one HR, payroll and benefits platform for mid-sized companies, today announced the Namely Exchange in collaboration with global health service company Cigna. The new employee benefits exchange will enable companies to offer their employees a menu of world-class benefits plans in an intuitive online marketplace. The solution builds on the existing relationship between the two brands and will offer more flexibility and choice for Namely clients, allowing businesses to provide a wider array of benefits options that fit the varying needs and preferences of their diverse employee base.

The arrangement between Namely and Cigna will combine pre-defined medical, dental, and other life and health products from Cigna with Namely’s technology to simplify the process for mid-sized companies to find and deliver employee benefits in a competitive jobs market. 62 percent of respondents to a recent survey of U.S. employers anticipate moving their full-time employees to a private exchange in one to two years, with interest greatest in the mid-market. Rather than shopping across carriers and multiple plan designs, Namely’s clients will work with an experienced Namely Benefit Consultant to help match off-the-shelf plans to unique employee needs. This is a significant advantage as it saves time for resource-constrained HR departments and provides more access to competitive employee benefits than is typically feasible for companies of their size.

“Working with Namely and Cigna helps us provide our benefits easily and quickly,” said Gary Giesow, Director, Payroll Operations at Magnetic, an existing Namely and Cigna client. “This allows us to offer more competitive benefits packages to our employees.”

The Namely Exchange will launch with 12 health insurance plans from Cigna, from which HR admins select up to five plan options to offer their employees. The Namely Exchange will also contain pre-defined plan options for dental, vision, disability and life insurance that employers can offer. Employees will then choose plans within the online marketplace through an intuitive shopping experience. Elections and changes automatically transmit to Cigna, so enrollment is seamless and coverage is always up-to-date, and benefits deductions automatically feed into Namely, so payroll can be processed accurately and easily.

“Namely is a fast-growing and innovative player in the market,” said Patty Fontneau, President of Benefit Exchange and Technology Solutions for Cigna. “Speed to market and the ability to offer employers of this size more choice and flexibility are very important. Namely is helping businesses with HR and benefits administration, and is helping their employees choose from quality Cigna plans that are more personalized to their individual or family’s needs.”

“A typical mid-sized company can have both a 23-year-old engineer living in a one-bedroom apartment and 53-year-old sales executive living in the suburbs with two kids in college,” said Rob LaHayne, Vice President, Benefits for Namely. “But both employees will have to pick from the same two healthcare plans. Now, employees will have the choice to pick from a spectrum of plans that make sense to them. Pairing Cigna’s creative wellness and funding solutions with Namely’s intuitive technology, we are now able to offer our clients a truly competitive employee benefits solution and help them align a private exchange with their overall people operations strategy.”

Delivering a leading offering for employers in the mid-market and acting as a broker has long been a focus for Namely, a leading modern HR technology platform for this segment. Namely launched its employee benefits business based on client demand, and more than 50 percent of the company’s new clients choose Namely as their broker in the first quarter of 2016. Namely now insures over 20,000 lives. With new, advantaged benefits products like the Namely Exchange, the company expects its employee benefits business to continue to grow.

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