Medicare Open Enrollment’s Big
Question: What’s In It For Me?
Medicare open enrollment is upon us. Whether first-time buyers or switchers
from one plan to another, seniors will be shopping. From regional health plans
to national mega-players, competition has never been greater—over 650 plan
sponsors competing for enrollments. And, the range of benefit plan options is
equally as robust:
- Medicare Supplement (Medigap)
- Medicare Advantage (MA and MA-PD)
- Prescription Drug Plans (PDP)
- Private Fee For Service (PFFS)
- Medicare Preferred Provider Plans (MPPO)
- Medicare Savings Accounts (MSA)
- Special Needs Plans (SNP)
In a marketplace characterized by intense competition and a wide range of
product/price options, it is critical to embrace basic tenets of senior selling.
It’s time to sharpen your approach to Medicare marketing by finding a balance
between education and selling.
Communicating
with Medicare prospects about product features, benefit structure and premiums
is crucial. Setting expectations about a Medicare plan’s value and anticipating
questions in advance will go a long way toward creating informed, comfortable
consumers.
The proper balance between education and selling can help shape a
successful Medicare marketing strategy.
Education: Focus on plan features and
benefits along with all the rules that go with it; but keep it simple. Medicare
collateral or Web content needs to be easy-to-read and informative. Consumer
education creates an understanding of a plan’s structure and how it works—basics
such as deductible, copays and coinsurance; and complicating features like
formularies, plan gaps and benefit extras. And, don’t forget to explain key
administrative components such as billing and customer service. It’s a tough
balance to achieve—not providing enough information could mean no decision; too
much information could result in overload and decision shut down.
Selling: This is where a Medicare plan’s value
proposition is communicated and sold. It’s your company’s “why us” and needs to
comes through loud and clear—all within a framework of the benefit design you
want to promote. Marketing communications need to be persuasive as well as actionable,
always driving a prospect into the sales cycle. Most importantly is your
ability to answer the big consumer question–what’s
in it for me? This may include a range of value-based factors such as
premium savings, enhanced benefits, greater freedom of provider choice,
comprehensive drug formulary and, your company’s brand value.
Like all
direct-to-consumer marketing success, yours will come from connecting with your
senior customers logically and emotionally. Integrate senior demographics and
psychographics into a marketing and sales strategy. It allows you to understand
what’s important to them, what concerns them, and what they want from their
health insurance. Market intelligence also helps to know where to find them and
how to get their attention (what they read, watch and listen to; what motivates
them to respond). Develop customer profiles and use these to target product
offerings and match marketing messages. Seniors are not a one size fits all
market segment.
Finally, deploying a
few indispensable senior communication principles will go a long way toward
improving Medicare plan sales. Throw away the jargon and industry acronyms. Use
practical explanations, pictures and larger typeface to assure usability and
readability…not to mention clickability given rapid adoption of the Internet by
seniors. Provide plenty of opportunities to compare plans and display additional
sources of information. If its fine print – call it fine print; if there’s a
benefit gap, identify it, don’t hide it. Let customers know what’s covered and
what’s not. Finally, before you go public, give your communications a test—share
your sales presentation, collateral or enrollment materials with seniors, your ultimate
buying audience!
Medicare,
like most insurance products can be intimidating, frustrating and bureaucratic.
There are complex benefits, tricky rules and a lot of options to choose among. Given
open enrollment’s condensed timeframe, there’s bound to be confusion. Medicare
marketing success hinges on educating seniors, defining value and creating
motivated buyers. This is a customer segment that wants to understand, upfront, what they are purchasing,
how benefits work, and how your plan fits into their financial and lifestyle
situation. And, don’t forget to answer seniors’ number one question—what’s
in it for me?
