Health Insurers Crank Up Ad Spending - As Systems' Kinks Are Worked Out, a Late Rush Is On to Grab Younger Buyers
From The Wall Street Journal:
Insurers such as WellPoint are capitalizing on an unprecedented opportunity in a shifting health-care market. Some seven million Americans are expected to buy health coverage on the new consumer exchanges, where people can compare insurance plans side by side. On top of that, more companies such as Walgreen Co. and International Business Machines Corp. are sending employees or retirees to privatized insurance exchanges to choose their own plans.
The federally run online exchange has seen a surge in traffic since the Obama administration declared the website to be mostly fixed, with millions of visitors and more than 137,000 enrollments processed as of Dec. 1, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The ad campaigns are a major shift in strategy for health insurers, most of whom have never really had to market directly to consumers aggressively until now. Most in the past sold plans to companies and human-resource directors for their workforces.
Little wonder that health insurers score among the worst performers in the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which measures nearly 50 industries. They rank at the bottom of the list, along with cable companies, airlines and telecommunications firms.
Insurers need to win over people like Dennis Dwight, a 55-year-old mortgage broker from Dove Canyon, Calif., whose current plan from Anthem Blue Cross terminates at the end of the year. All the insurers more or less look the same to me," said Mr. Dwight, who is self-employed. "So, I'm very open to hear what they have to say."
Welcome to the health-insurance ad wars.
A malfunctioning HealthCare.gov website and confusion over canceled policies have kept millions of Americans from choosing new health plans so far this fall. But with website access improving and the initial deadline to sign up for coverage looming Dec. 23, insurers are starting to blanket the airwaves and social media with glitzy ads urging consumers to buy their plans.
The federally run online exchange has seen a surge in traffic since the Obama administration declared the website to be mostly fixed, with millions of visitors and more than 137,000 enrollments processed as of Dec. 1, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The ad campaigns are a major shift in strategy for health insurers, most of whom have never really had to market directly to consumers aggressively until now. Most in the past sold plans to companies and human-resource directors for their workforces.
Little wonder that health insurers score among the worst performers in the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which measures nearly 50 industries. They rank at the bottom of the list, along with cable companies, airlines and telecommunications firms.
Insurers need to win over people like Dennis Dwight, a 55-year-old mortgage broker from Dove Canyon, Calif., whose current plan from Anthem Blue Cross terminates at the end of the year. All the insurers more or less look the same to me," said Mr. Dwight, who is self-employed. "So, I'm very open to hear what they have to say."
Some 16 Blues plans have been using the ads this fall to build their brand images, and now are adding their phone numbers and website addresses to the spots.
Other companies also ran brand-building ads this fall, trying to reach healthier consumers.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 7:04 AM
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