Employee benefits newsmakers: Jellyvision, Wink, Endeavor Plus, Milliman

Less than 100 years ago, employees were lucky if they got access to the company doctor as their sole employee benefit. Today, the employee benefits industry is teeming with technology and innovation, fueled by people leaping out of their comfort zones and daring to imagine. Here are a few of the latest employee benefits industry partnerships, mergers, and new hires:

MediKeeper, a wellness, benefits, and health plan portal vendor, will provide the technology hub for Imagine Health’s health plan. This includes live chatting with a concierge team, finding in-network doctors, requesting appointments, determining benefit status, and more.

Employee benefit solution provider Employee Benefit Consulting Group (EBCG) has been invited to join the Worldwide Broker Network. Being a part of the WBN network enables EBCG to offer clients a more extensive selection of employee benefits, the flexibility to customize benefit options and to create a more cost-saving employee benefit experience.

The National Business Group on Health announced the appointment of Tracy Kofski, vice president, total rewards at General Mills, Inc., as chair of its board of directors. Julie Ann Overcash and Brendon Perkins, human resource executives at Intel and Nielsen, respectively, were elected to the board of directors.  In her role at General Mills, Ms. Kofski leads the strategy, program design, communication, and global governance of executive and broad-based compensation and benefits. Julie Ann Overcash is a vice president of human resources and the director of compensation and benefits at Intel Corporation.  Brendon Perkins is vice president of global benefits, executive compensation and mobility at Nielsen.

Voluntary Disruption, a division of Silverman Benefits Group announced the hiring of Brandy Hartin and Stephanie Schwartz. Stephanie Schwartz will further expand their client service capabilities and benefits data analytics. Schwartz joins Voluntary Disruption with more than 7 years of insurance and employee benefits experience and will serve as a key account manager and benefits analyst. Brandy Hartin has been hired as Voluntary Disruption’s national sales director. Before joining Voluntary Disruption, Hartin was a broker sales consultant for Aflac. Her responsibilities will include prospecting and securing new adviser, broker and consultant partner relationships as well as working as Voluntary Disruption’s head of all group client strategy, new account installs and enrollments. Both Schwartz and Hartin will report directly to Eric Silverman, founder and owner of Voluntary Disruption.

Milliman, a global consulting and actuarial firm, announced the expansion of its retirement administration practice. The newly-formed national Employee Benefit Administration Practice serves approximately 2 million participants and is positioned for growth.  Janet McCune will oversee all sales and marketing with Kyle Hughes leading advisor relationships and sales. Gerald Erickson will lead the multiemployer channel and Brad Kuebler will lead services for association-type plans. Current service teams will remain in place serving existing clients.

Milliman also announced the appointment of Gary Setterberg as Senior Managing Director, Global Higher Education Practice, and the creation of a multi-disciplinary practice dedicated to providing employee benefit and human capital advisory and strategic consulting services to higher education and academic medical system clients.

Andrew Berman has been named the Central Intelligence Officer for Wink, Inc. where he is responsible for illustration benchmarking and competitive analysis for the company’s life insurance competitive intel suite. Berman reports to Sheryl J. Moore, Chief Storyteller at Wink.

GEX Management  and Endeavor Plus agreed to finalize a strategic merger agreement making EPI a wholly-owned subsidiary of GEX, with the aim of delivering comprehensive and cost-effective health insurance through various distribution channels. EPI is a third-party administrator and a medical stop-loss reinsurance company. GEX Management is a licensed Professional Employer Organization and a Professional Services Company providing comprehensive back-office services.

Benefits technology provider PlanSource is partnering with Jellyvision to integrate ALEX, Jellyvision’s interactive benefits counselor, into the PlanSource benefits administration system. ALEX uses behavioral science, non-jargony language and humor to engage employees and offer personalized, confidential guidance on topics like choosing a health care insurance plan, saving for retirement, managing health care costs or navigating a life event.

Ascensus, a technology-enabled solutions provider has entered into an agreement to acquire third-party administration firm 401k Plus. Retirement Asset Advisory, Inc., a registered investment advisor co-owned by 401k Plus’ owners, is not a part of the transaction and will continue to be managed separately.  Ascensus has also entered into an agreement to acquire Continental Benefits Group, a third-party administration firm that specializes in tax-qualified retirement plans along with non-qualified deferred compensation plans.

Technology-based HR services provider Mammoth HR announced a strategic rebrand to unify all of its solutions behind a new market category – Collaborative HR. The brand refresh also serves as the springboard for a series of company investments designed to enhance Mammoth’s capabilities, product portfolio, and overall customer experience.

Salary.com, a provider of cloud-based compensation data and analytics, announced its merger with Compdata Surveys & Consulting, a national compensation survey data and consulting firm. With 25,000 job titles and descriptions worldwide powered by an advanced analytics platform, the combined entity expands the capacity of compensation professionals to identify, match, and price jobs across all regions and industries.