WebMD Health Services Adds Financial Wellness Solution to Well-Being Portfolio

Personalized, Education-Driven Program Helps Employees Build Skills, Take Action to Reduce the Impact of Financial Stress

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WebMD Health Services

Aug 02, 2018, 06:00 ET

PORTLAND, Ore. and CARDIFF-BY-THE-SEA, Calif., Aug. 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- WebMD Health Services, a subsidiary of WebMD Health Corp., an Internet Brands company, today announced the launch of a new solution that helps employees and health plan members become better educated about their financial challenges through personalized skill building and action plans that reduce money-related stress and motivate change, no matter their current financial situation or stage of life.

The new offering, iGrad's Enrich^™ financial platform, goes beyond investment and benefits planning to provide the foundational information and insights needed to help consumers not only improve financial literacy, but also sustain it over time. An in-depth online assessment evaluates an individual's strengths and challenges and then delivers personalized recommendations to help employees minimize financial stress and reach their goals, such as spending less than they earn, saving for emergencies, and planning for the future. Enrich supports employees at all life stages, from providing strategies to help pay off student loans, planning for a child's college education, budgeting for health savings accounts and saving for retirement.

Enrich is seamlessly integrated with WebMD Health Services platforms to raise awareness, drive engagement, personalize the experience and reward individuals. Importantly, it does not link to financial institutions or personal account information, which the majority of employees prefer.

"WebMD Health Services believes it is important to provide a solution that can educate and support individuals no matter where they are on the financial spectrum," said John Harrison, Senior Vice President of Customer Experience at WebMD Health Services. "Enrich Financial Wellness is education-based, developed by financial experts, and driven by a commitment to help employees build their skills and achieve their financial goals."

Financial wellness is now recognized as a critical component of overall well-being and workplace productivity. It is linked to anxiety, insomnia and depression and is a significant source of stress for 72 percent of Americans, including 65 percent of millennials.

Studies show that financial stress leads to increased absenteeism, reduced productivity, and a lack of focus at work. Additionally, approximately one-third of employees report being distracted by personal finance issues while at work, with almost half of them spending three hours or more each week handling these matters during the work day.*

"WebMD's commitment to financial wellness education is significant because of the proven connection between financial stress and health issues," said iGrad President and CEO Rob LaBreche. "We are thrilled about partnering with WebMD to offer our adaptive and interactive online financial literacy platform."

* 2017 PWC Employee Financial Wellness Survey

About WebMD Health Services
WebMD Health Services has over 17 years of experience driving positive behavior changes. Consumers trust WebMD for reliable, accurate, and clear answers to their most pressing health-related questions. At WebMD Health Services, we tap into these valuable consumer insights to design and implement successful, engaging solutions to help individuals meet their well-being needs. We understand that there are numerous paths to reach well-being goals. Our expertise, combined with a variety of third-party partner integrations, enables us to deliver unique and personalized experiences across a wide range of industries. See how we support these diverse populations at webmdhealthservices.com.

WebMD Health Services is a subsidiary of WebMD Health Corp.

About WebMD Health Corp.
WebMD Health Corp., an Internet Brands company, is the leading provider of health information services, serving consumers, physicians, healthcare professionals, employers, and health plans through our public and private online portals, mobile platforms and health-focused publications.

The WebMD Health Network includes WebMD Health, Medscape, MedicineNet, eMedicineHealth, RxList, Medscape Education, OnHealth and other owned WebMD sites.

About Internet Brands
Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Internet Brands® is a fully integrated online media and software services organization focused on four high-value vertical categories: Health, Automotive, Legal and Home/Travel. The company's award-winning consumer websites lead their categories and serve more than 250 million monthly visitors, while a full range of web presence offerings has established deep, long-term relationships with SMB and enterprise clients. Internet Brands' powerful, proprietary operating platform provides the flexibility and scalability to fuel the company's continued growth. Internet Brands is a portfolio company of KKR and Temasek. For more information, please visit www.internetbrands.com.

About Enrich Financial Wellness
iGrad's Enrich financial wellness platform is used by more than 300 employers and financial institutions nationwide to provide personalized, interactive and adaptive financial wellness education and action plans to employees and customers.

Designed around a proprietary behavioral algorithm, Enrich personalizes financial information for each employee's situation and needs. It also offers tools, quizzes, videos, articles and a library of multimedia content. Because it is not tied to any specific bank or financial solution, the platform's prescriptive approach is completely objective.

In addition to Enrich, iGrad offers a financial wellness education platform, also called iGrad™, for college students that is used at more than 600 colleges and universities nationwide. iGrad is a three-time winner of Education Program of the Year (The Institute for Financial Literacy), Best Product award for three years running (University Business Magazine), as well as the Outstanding Consumer Financial Information Award (AFCPE).

iGrad is based in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA. For more information, visit www.enrich.org.

SOURCE WebMD Health Services