At the case setup level, each BenSelect plan has at least one Product.  A product represents the actual policy which, depending on eligibility, may be presented to the applicant as a plan enrollment option.  Thus, employees enroll in products, not plans.  At the case setup level, a product encapsulates all information necessary to determine eligibility, including EOI, riders, and rates.  Supplemental information such as presentations or overview documents in addition to product-specific forms may also be associated with a product.  A single Payer is associated with each product in case setup which acts more as a conceptual framework to allow carrier grouping in BenSelect reporting.

Since the purpose of BenSelect is principally to collect product enrollments, products are at the root of the system and the architecture.  In case setup, a product is used to define business rules such as eligibility and rates.  During enrollment, these settings are used to determine what is presented to applicants and what steps are required to complete a product enrollment. 

When an applicant enrolls in a product, Selerix data model containers "transmute" into enrollment data.  At that time, Selerix uses different terms to differentiate between case setup components and their corresponding data elements.  A relevant example below illustrates this transition:

 

When an applicant signs the confirmation forms, the product becomes a Coverage, which may be active or in a pending state awaiting agent or carrier approval.  At this time, rates transmute to cost, and rider options become attributes of the selected product, for example.  Selerix may refer to a coverage as a product, but a product is only a coverage when the enrollment is confirmed.

Knowing the difference between case setup objects, enrollment data objects, and the terminology that distinguishes them will help you interact with both the Selerix team and the Selerix Data Model.  Thus, when someone at Selerix says "verify the product enrollment" or "is the coverage pending?", you'll know we're talking about enrollment data and not case setup.

In summary, the business rules defined on a case that are associated with each plan determine eligibility for that coverage category, and each product likewise has business rules that determine things like eligibility and rates.  In practice, when an employee is not eligible for a plan s/he will not have the option to elect the coverage during enrollment.  When eligible for the plan, the employee may only be eligible for one of the products associated with the plan, so only one product will be offered during enrollment.  Or, an employee may be eligible for multiple products and will be given a choice of products from which to choose.