We're excited to announce that Matt Levin, former CEO of BenefitFocus, is joining the First Dollar Board. Throughout his career, Matt has led collaborative teams to build improved benefit experiences for customers.
We're thankful to add his expertise to our board. Please join us in welcoming Matt to the First Dollar team!
Q&A with Matt Levin
We sat down with First Dollar’s newest board member and asked him some questions.
What’s the last song you listened to?
I just took my kids to see Taylor Swift, so, sadly, it was "Shake It Off." But my favorite band is the Police, and the first song at my wedding was "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic."
How does your own experience with benefits impact your work?
I have spent the lion's share of my career in HR and Benefit Services. HSA and FSA products can go a long way in helping families and individuals optimize the dollars spent on benefits, which has been a passion of mine for the last 20 years.
What does First Dollar share in common with other teams you’ve worked with?
From my experience, all the best teams embrace the following: Take care of your clients and each other, and the business will take care of itself. First Dollar's leadership and team demonstrate this belief.
How does your educational background at the University of Chicago shape your view on benefits?
The University of Chicago is the birthplace of modern finance, and if you listen to the Economics professors, they would have you believe that intense study of microeconomics will help you get closer to the Almighty. Microeconomics has much to do with incentives and how people react to incentives. This is especially true with behavioral economists. Many micro and behavioral economics principles have underpinned my work in benefits, including building exchanges, nudging participants to balance health/wealth decisions, and showing people how to mimic richer plans by enrolling in a high-deductible plan with an HSA. My educational background gave me the frameworks to put these nudges into action.
Where can First Dollar make an impact?
First Dollar has a unique opportunity to help people finance their healthcare spending more thoughtfully. However, the work is hard. Participants are risk averse and generally re-enroll in prior elections. First Dollar has an opportunity to make benefits like FSAs and HSAs more intuitive and integrated with other benefits elections, while offering better service levels.
Matt Levin’s Bio
Matthew Levin served as President and CEO of Benefitfocus. (Voya acquired Benefitfocus in early 2023.) Before Benefitfocus, Matt served as Chief Strategy Officer at ADP, Managing Partner at Psilos Group Managers, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Strategy for Aon, and Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy for Hewitt Associates. Levin began his career in the First Scholar Program at First Chicago NBD, now JP Morgan Chase. Levin holds a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University. He was also named to Crain's Chicago Business 2011 "40 Under 40" and the World Economic Forum's "2013 Young Global Leaders" program. Levin teaches classes as a visiting lecturer at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. And he can speak English and Spanish with the ability to read Hebrew—he keeps himself busy!
