Zenefits Launches Online Healthcare Shopping for Small Businesses

Zenefits, the HR, benefits and payroll platform for small and mid-sized businesses, has launched a healthcare benefits shopping experience. This simple, modern experience allows small businesses to shop, compare, select and administer health, dental and vision benefits plans — all from one central technology hub. In just a few clicks, businesses can compare the best available healthcare insurance rates and plan types to meet their needs from 30 of the largest U.S. carriers, including innovative new options like Sidecar Health, which leverages a “cash price” model to offer significant savings.

The Zenefits benefits shopping experience helps to level the playing field for small businesses and their people, who have been unfairly disadvantaged on cost per employee health insurance compared to large companies. In fact, companies with less than 500 employees pay 18% more than larger companies that can negotiate lower rates on average. That cost contributed to findings in Zenefits’ 2020 Benefits Benchmark Report, which showed a nearly 20% drop since 2017 of investments by small to mid-sized employers in medical, dental and vision insurance.

Significant Cost Savings With a rapidly expanding breadth of new insurance provider partnerships, Zenefits is able to offer greater affordability and access to health benefits for small businesses. For example, through an exclusive launch partnership with Sidecar Health, customers may save 40% or more on health care costs. The driver of the savings is Sidecar Health’s unique “cash price” insurance model, which leverages self-pay discounts that many providers offer to patients who pay at point of service. The partnership with Zenefits brings this new model to small businesses across the U.S.

Simplicity and Service

Navigating the group benefits shopping experience is also confusing, inefficient and outdated.

Zenefits’ new benefits shopping experience goes beyond small business owners selecting coverage, by allowing them to then manage their healthcare benefits seamlessly within the Zenefits platform, including employee access to their benefits from any device. Further, companies can choose support from a benefits broker partner of their choice. For those without a broker, Zenefits will offer direct access to its Certified Broker Partners (CBPs). At launch, One Digital will be the first Certified Broker Partner to support small business shoppers’ benefits consulting needs.

Zenefits Extends Platform, Choice and Partner Network

In 2017, Zenefits exited the in-house brokerage business and built a new SaaS business from the software it previously gave away for free. The benefits shopping experience is the latest innovation resulting from that shift. Today, Zenefits People Operations Platform automates all aspects of HR, payroll and benefits for small businesses, with new applications for distributed work – including employee collaboration, engagement and wellbeing. In addition, Zenefits offers its benefits administration software to its broker and carrier partners through a dedicated partner program. The launch of the online benefits shopping experience will accelerate distribution for Zenefits broker and carrier partners, while allowing SMBs and individuals to go from quoting to enrollment in minutes in a simple, digital experience.

“Access to healthcare has never been as critically important as it is today,” said Colin Rogers, GM and SVP of Benefits at Zenefits. “The benefits shopping experience is Zenefits’ latest bold move to reimagine health insurance and deliver democratization of affordable healthcare for all employees at any business, at a time when it’s needed more than ever. This includes those who are uninsured, underinsured, or traditionally find themselves ineligible due to their employment status as part-timers or contractors. The benefits shopping experience helps all workers.”

“Our goal is to lower the cost of health care for everyone in the U.S. with plans that offer complete transparency and the ability for members to shop for care,” said Joe Greenberg, VP at Sidecar Health. “Partnering with Zenefits expands our reach to small businesses and their employees – where our approach can provide real savings and increase access.”

The simple and intuitive benefits shopping experience allows SMBs and individuals to go from quoting to enrollment all within the Zenefits People Operations Platform.