How does ALEX recommend Voluntary benefits?
ALEX will always recommend Dental and Vision benefits, as these are considered “essential benefits” that everyone should consider. Recommendations for all the other supported benefits are conditional based on personal factors (such as risk aversion, age of household members, etc.) and the characteristics of the health plan selected:
Accident – depends on children in household, risk aversion, financial wellness, deductible of selected health plan
Hospital Indemnity – depends on risk aversion, financial wellness, planned pregnancy, prior year hospitalizations, deductible of selected health plan
Critical Illness – depends on risk aversion, financial wellness, deductible of selected health plan, number of Rx, age of household members
STD – depends on financial wellness, planned pregnancy
DFSA – depends on age of children in household
For example, if someone enrolls in a plan that has a $3,000 deductible but can’t afford a surprise medical bill greater than $1,000, ALEX will recommend Accident coverage to help cover that gap.
Some voluntary benefits will be considered a "Best Match" for an employee. In this case, ALEX is recommending two or more of the voluntary benefits (Accident, Hospital Indemnity, and Critical Illness) for that specific employee. When this is the case, ALEX will highlight which of these policies is the best match for each household. This way, employees who can’t afford all of the recommended policies can quickly identify which policy will give them the most value.
When someone is risk averse and enrolled in a plan that has a deductible that exceeds the highest medical bill they can afford, it is likely that ALEX will recommend all three of the voluntary benefits. When this is the case, ALEX will show users why each of these policy types is worth considering, but it will also indicate which of these types is the best match.