CEO of Benefitfocus.com to Speak at Payments Conference.

CHARLESTON, S.C. and SAN ANTONIO, April 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Shawn Jenkins, President and CEO of Benefitfocus.com, Inc., will speak at Payments 2005, the annual conference of the Electronics Payments Association (NACHA). The conference will be held this year at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas from April 10 through 13.

Payments 2005 provides the knowledge and information organizations need to effectively manage the country's move to electronic payments. This year's conference will offer educational sessions and workshops featuring speakers from financial institutions, government agencies, consulting and research firms, and service providers.

"NACHA was looking for a speaker to talk about the emerging healthcare markets and chose us, because we were the first to market with a sophisticated, robust health insurance billing platform," says Benefitfocus President and CEO, Shawn Jenkins.

Benefitfocus is the leading provider of insurance enrollment and benefit software and services. Its newest product, Benefitfocus eBilling, is the industry's most comprehensive and dynamic electronic invoice presentment and payment (EIPP) system. It is designed specifically for insurance carriers and their customers. Benefitfocus eBilling features three primary components: web- based invoicing, automated reconciliation and online bill pay.

Jenkins will speak at Payments 2005 about EIPP Best Practices for corporate payments solutions. "This session provides a real-world look into the complexities of implementing an integrated EIPP and Electronic Billing Presentment and Payment (EBPP) applications in the context of current healthcare market conditions," says Jenkins.

Technology for insurance institutions generally lags five to eight years behind banking and financial institutions. "Less than 10 percent have electronic billing today," says Jenkins. "We see the industry waking up to that and beginning to implement it. Within 24 months, 75 percent will have implemented an electronic billing solution. I'm excited to see them standing up and preparing for massive implementation."

He adds, "The reason we're qualified to speak about it is because of our experience with eligibility and heavyweight enrollment transactions and internet security. Secondly, we did our eBilling rollout with a big name brand like Blue Cross and have a client willing to co-speak."

Jenkins will be joined by Tim Vaughn, CFO, of Companion Healthcare, a BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina company. "The Benefitfocus eBilling application is allowing us to reduce our administrative invoicing costs," stated Vaughn. "In addition, Benefitfocus eBilling offers a value-add for our customers by consolidating bills plus making them more accurate and easy to understand."

Jenkins and Vaughn will present a case study on implementing an electronic billing system that serves both business and consumer customers. In December 2004, Companion HealthCare implemented a comprehensive electronic invoicing solution that complies with HIPAA regulations and facilitates invoice presentment, payment, and EDI invoice adjustments. The integration and deployment of this application is based on a phased methodology, the last phase being invoice reconciliation, which will occur during 2005. Session participants will leave with an understanding of how to develop a project management strategy and a checklist for vendor selection and evaluation.

About Benefitfocus

Benefitfocus.com, Inc. is a leading provider of software and services for benefit enrollment, electronic billing and data exchange. Noted for ease-of- use, the Benefitfocus applications allow users the ability to find information and make changes on all employer-sponsored benefit programs. In turn, the applications link and seamlessly exchange data with payroll vendors and benefit providers, reducing errors and costs associated with traditional paper-based forms. Benefitfocus allows companies to focus on the benefits rather than the paperwork. Benefitfocus can be reached at 843-849-7476 or via the Internet at http://www.benefitfocus.com/ .

About NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association

NACHA is the leading organization in developing electronic solutions to improve the payments system. NACHA represents more than 12,000 financial institutions through direct memberships and a network of regional payments associations, and 650 organizations through its industry councils. NACHA develops operating rules and business practices for the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network and for electronic payments in the areas of Internet commerce, electronic bill and invoice presentment and payment (EBPP, EIPP), e-checks, financial electronic data interchange (EDI), international payments, and electronic benefits transfer (EBT). Visit NACHA on the Internet at http://www.nacha.org/ .

CONTACT: Sarah Moise of Benefitfocus.com, Inc., +1-843-849-7476, ext. 356

Web site: http://www.benefitfocus.com/ http://www.nacha.org/