Hidden Opportunities: How Healthcare Reform Impacts Marketing Efforts

HIDDEN
OPPORTUNITIES: HOW HEALTH CARE REFORM IMPACTS MARKETING EFFORTS
1215 4th Avenue, Suite 2100 I Seattle, WA 98161-1018 I 206.805.1500 I hackergroup.comHIDDEN OPPORTUNITIES:HOW HEALTH CARE REFORM IMPACTS MARKETING EFFORTS
Health insurance marketing is highly regulated and nuanced with complexities. Success depends upon marketers' ability to exploit knowledge of the regulatory environment as well as very specialized direct/digital practices. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - better known as health care reform - has already begun transforming America's health care system. On 1September 23, 2010, the first major wave of health care changes went into effect.As the reform bill's details roll out, it will be important for marketers to consider how knowledgeable their agency partners are. Category expertise will be even more critical.The face of health care marketing is changing. Now is the time to evaluate all of your health insurance marketing efforts and pilot new ones. The new landscape is ripe with opportunities.This white paper discusses several important considerations for marketers regarding the new act, particularly concerning Individual and Family coverage, Medicaid and Medicare.
RISKS AND REWARDS OF INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY INSURANCE CHANGES.
FEWER PARTICIPANTS IN During the recent economic downturn, many employers reduced health benefits to 2GROUP HEALTH PLANS employees. To recapture lost members, health insurers have stepped up product development for self-insured individuals. Now health care reform will institute guaranteed issue health insurance - so insurers will generally be unable to turn 66.4% 17.6% away potential customers due to health risks. 65 Among employers +54.7% with 100 plan Among these changes, opportunity knocks. To offset the potential for heavy claims s participants from guaranteed issue programs, insurers need to become adept at targeting and tn 50 engaging individuals the insurers would prefer to underwrite. apici Audience optimization should embrace profiling, models and segmentation, as well tra 35 as data from current in-market results, to enable predictive behavior solutions. This P allows you to make more profitable marketing decisions. fo s Combining segmentation with response modeling requires a database for maximum no 20i leverage, speed and actionable metrics. A marketing history database (MHD) of lli prospects helps marketers maintain clean and well-organized marketing data. It M allows them to track the communications received by individuals and benchmark 5 the results of their marketing test and rollout programs. Benchmarking is the key JAN 2009 JAN 2010 to developing a reliable and scalable flow of new prospects and new members. Source: AHIP Center for Policy and The end game? Over time, marketing costs decrease while marketing Research, 2005-2011 HSA/HDHP efficiency improves. Census Reports
TIGHTER FOCUS ON WELLNESS AS A WAY TO REDUCE COSTS. Across the board, health care organizations are focusing on their patients' wellness, 3 as well as their illnesses. Marketing can have an impact here. Direct marketers are adept at changing behaviors - by persuasion and by offering incentives. This skill can be applied to fostering healthy behaviors.
1215 4th Avenue, Suite 2100 I Seattle, WA 98161-1018 I 206.805.1500 I hackergroup.com HIDDEN OPPORTUNITIES 1© 2011 Hacker GroupMarketing and other communications programs have helped people cope with chronic illnesses, like diabetes. These programs can also help patients build healthy nutritional habits or quit smoking. Helping to change ingrained habits can be a struggle and needs ongoing communication, as well as more immediate incentives. As employers try to curb rising health insurance costs, they will seek out variable health benefit plans that offer reduced costs for employees who follow chronic illness protocols. Insurance marketers need to set up marketing engagement practices - mail, email and interactive websites - to retrieve and maintain employee participation in condition management programs.
INSURERS MUST QUICKLY IMPROVE THEIR SKILLS IN: . Developing direct-to-consumer relationships . Engaging consumers to take an active role in their health care decisions . Driving healthy behaviors for consumers with chronic conditions
65% OF HEALTH CARE SPENDING IS ON PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE CHRONIC CONDITIONS35
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