Alignment Health Plan to Offer Concierge, Social Determinants of Health Benefits

Alignment Health Plan will offer qualified Medicare Advantage members concierge services and social determinants of health benefits in 2020.

The Southern California-based Medicare Advantage plan will offer its members the ability to access board-certified doctors from video or telephone on-demand, day or night, through the ACCESS program. The ACCESS On-Demand Concierge program provides members a dedicated concierge team and a “black card” that can be used as a debit card for eligible items.

“Alignment’s ACCESS On-Demand Concierge is evolving as health care consumers’ expectations become more sophisticated,” John Kao, CEO of Alignment Healthcare said in an earlier press release. “We purposely built Alignment to provide seniors the care and service they deserve, and we are delighted to be able to give them peace of mind that all their health care needs will be taken care of.”

As many Medicare Advantage members struggle to access specialized providers because of functional limitations getting to appointments, the telehealth abilities of ACCESS will help ensure these members have access to qualified medical professionals whenever they need it. The concierge services will assist members in navigating their eligible benefits and coverage.

Alignment Health Plan is also following in the footsteps of many health plans in addressing the social determinants of health of their members. The social determinants of health are the non-clinical factors that impact an individual's health, such as the environment, transportation, and economics. 

Three new benefits to qualified Alignment Medicare Advantage members aim to address social determinants of health: transportation to appointments, grocery benefit, and companion care.

Ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft will be used to bring members to and from their scheduled medical appointments.

The grocery benefit will provide members with a monthly allowance to buy groceries at participating stores, including CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart. The allowance is automatically uploaded onto member’s “black cards” which can be used as a debit card to purchase items at over 50,000 retailers.

The companion care benefit Alignment will connect members with college students who can help with non-medical tasks such as household chores and technology lessons. In addition to routine tasks, the college students offer elderly members general companion care, which the plan refers to as “grandkids on-demand.”

Alignment is identifying members eligible for these programs through medical records, particularly emphasizing members with diabetes and other chronic conditions. The organization is using artificial intelligence to doctors and other healthcare providers with real-time analytics for their members. The aim of leveraging this technology is to help providers predict which patients need care so that care can be delivered earlier because a proactive approach to treatment can lead to better patient outcomes and cost-savings.

In addition to expanding the coverage offerings, Alignment Healthcare is expanding its network. Their plans will now cover eight new counties in the greater Sacramento and Bay areas targeting over 860,000 Medicare-eligible individuals. This expanded network includes six new HMO plans and four new PPO plans.

Several of the plan offerings include nearly 500 commonly used generic drugs with a $0 copay and coverage of prescription drugs not typically covered by Medicare.

These improved plan benefits and plan options across a broader network are a part of Alignment’s strategy to appeal to a larger market of Medicare Advantage members during Medicare’s annual election period which runs from October 15 to December 7.