CHARLESTON, S.C., July 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --Benefitfocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT), a leading provider of cloud-based benefits software solutions, today announced that Texas-based retail chain, ALCO Stores, Inc. has selected the Benefitfocus HR INTOUCH MARKETPLACE® to support benefits administration in response to the additional requirements imposed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). By consolidating benefits-related information and employee data in the cloud-based HR INTOUCH MARKETPLACE portal, ALCO can support online enrollment, employee communication and eligibility management in one place.

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With 198 stores across 23 states, ALCO is known for bringing a wide variety of quality merchandise at reasonable prices to smaller communities throughout the central United States. HR INTOUCH MARKETPLACE is built on a configurable rules-based engine that enables ALCO to create enrollment workflows based on the individual's eligibility status. Plan comparison tools, cost estimators and educational videos help employees become more knowledgeable about the options available to them and the impact of their benefit decisions. Employees are able to conveniently access their benefits information from the portal at any time throughout the year from any web-enabled device.

"HR InTouch Marketplace is exactly what we were looking for coming from a very manual benefits management process," said Shatana Allen, Director of Human Resources at ALCO Stores. "This is the comprehensive solution we needed to improve employee engagement and be more strategic in our benefits administration. We are excited to roll this out starting with open enrollment for our variable hour workers in November."

As a retailer, ALCO has a large variable hour workforce population. HR INTOUCH MARKETPLACE supports integration with the ACA Management Platform from Equifax Workforce Solutions, providing ALCO access to the tools to measure and track the eligibility of its workforce as required by the ACA's Employer Mandate. HR INTOUCH MARKETPLACE provides dynamic messaging capabilities for ALCO to notify newly eligible employees based on the calculations performed by the ACA Management Platform. Additionally, declination surveys and required communication, such as the public exchange notice, can be configured into the enrollment process; survey replies and employee acknowledgement are captured and available via reports.

"ALCO makes it a priority to contribute to the success of its associates and the community it serves," stated Benefitfocus President and CEO Shawn Jenkins. "At Benefitfocus, we consider our clients a part of our community, and we are passionate about extending the value of our Platform further through our Ecosystem for our clients' success. ALCO is a great example of the advantages that this extensibility offers."

About ALCO Stores, Inc.
Founded in 1901, ALCO Stores, Inc. is a broad-line retailer, primarily serving small underserved communities across 23 states, which specializes in providing a superior selection of essential products for everyday life in small-town America. The Company has 198 ALCO stores that offer both name brand and private label products of exceptional quality at reasonable prices. ALCO is proud to have continually provided friendly, personal service to its customers for the past 113 years. To learn more about the Company visit www.ALCOstores.com.

About Benefitfocus
Benefitfocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT) is a leading provider of cloud-based benefits software solutions for consumers, employers, insurance carriers and brokers. Benefitfocus has served more than 23 million consumers on its platform, that consists of an integrated portfolio of products and services enabling clients to more efficiently shop, enroll, manage and exchange benefits information. With a user-friendly interface and consumer-centric design, the Benefitfocus Platform provides one place for consumers to access all their benefits. Benefitfocus solutions support the administration of all types of benefits including core medical, dental and other voluntary benefits plans as well as wellness programs. For more information, visit www.benefitfocus.com.

About Equifax
Equifax is a global leader in consumer, commercial and workforce information solutions that provide businesses of all sizes and consumers with insight and information they can trust. Equifax organizes and assimilates data on more than 600 million consumers and 81 million businesses worldwide. The company's significant investments in differentiated data, its expertise in advanced analytics to explore and develop new multi-source data solutions, and its leading-edge proprietary technology enable it to create and deliver unparalleled customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers. Equifax Workforce Solutions (also known as TALX), an Equifax business unit, is a leading provider of human resource, data, analytics and verification services.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Equifax operates or has investments in 19 countries and is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500® Index. Its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. In 2013, Equifax was named a Bloomberg BusinessWeek Top 50 company, was #3 in Fortune's Most Admired list in its category, and was named to InfoWeek 500 as well as the FinTech 100. For more information, please visit www.equifaxworkforce.com or http://www.equifax.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Actual results might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: the need to innovate and provide useful products and services; the immature and volatile nature of the market for our products and services and other factors that could impact our anticipated growth; management of growth; our ability to compete effectively; reliance on key personnel; our ability to maintain our culture and recruit and retain qualified personnel; changes in government regulations; privacy, security and other risks associated with our business; fluctuations in our financial results; general economic risks; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in our SEC filings, copies of which are available free of charge within the Investor Relations section of the Benefitfocus website at http://investor.benefitfocus.com/sec.cfm or upon request from our investor relations department. Benefitfocus assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Benefitfocus, Inc.
843.284.1052 ext. 6846
pr@benefitfocus.com

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SOURCE Benefitfocus, Inc.