Medicare is a complicated subject.  We, at datadecisions Group, are always looking for an opportunity to discuss the complexities of Medicare Marketing and Sales. We look forward to hearing feedback from Rise: The Medicare Marketing & Sales Summit 2020 in Las Vegas, February 25-26,2020 .

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation article** states that in 2020 there will be 3,148 Medicare Advantage plans offered in the US. 

I am back from Rise’s 12th Annual Medicare conference, and thought I would share to my experiences with those who did not attend.

First, the consumer will have from October 15th to December 7th, 2018 for AEP.  Then from January 1st to March 31st, 2019 there will be an open enrollment period. What communication plan do you have to first indicate that you would like to be the healthcare provider and then insure they are satisfied with their choice? At DDG, we segment this audience into market segments*: Consumers who wish to become a Medicare Advantage Member:  1,049,182 Individuals who prefer to purchase Medicare Supplement Insurance:  1,255,367 Persons who desire PDP (Part D) only:  937,833 Dual Eligible individuals:  488,602 Special Needs Persons (SNP):  6,621,042 Turning 65**           3,342,487 Turning 66**           3,342,487 Turning 67**           3,236,222 Movers***                1,305,457 These audiences are very useful in AEP campaigns—direct mail and Facebook.  We call these custom audiences-dataFaces.   However, OEP will present a different challenge.  Our market(ing) research does indicate that many consumers can not accurately describe the form of Medicare coverage they possess. Do you have a Medicare Advantage Plan? Does it include prescription drug coverage? Did you purchase a Medicare Supplement policy? Are you dependent on only Medicare Part A and Part B? Thus, it is certainly understandable that the member can become very dissatisfied with their coverage during the following months.  For example, did the individual consumer grasp that the PDP selected should match the prescription drugs that they are currently using? Does your customer service groups have training that enables them to assist the consumer in making the choice that optimizes their satisfaction?   Or does your member learn that they had choices from their neighbor and thus becomes irate that your firm did not explain. To measure your risk of “members switching” you can consider both a. market research and b. churn analytics.   Obviously, the goal of the two exercises is different but both can provide you with keen insight for member behavior in OEP.

In the extremely competitive world of healthcare acquisition, many firms seek a reduction in the cost per thousand mailed.  In fact, if a procurement style of cost management is in place that is your KPI. For many years, this approach was sufficient for success. In today’s fragmented consumer marketplace, the focus must be on audience identification.  Who wants to buy our policy?  Not every consumer over 65 years old wants to buy our specific product-Medicare Advantage or Dental etc. The shift from Cost per M to Cost per Lead is often perplexing due to the increase in cost for the audience/mailing list.   It seems illogical to spend more per thousand.  However, it is required.  Standard demographic mailing: List                                          $20.00/M                             Total mail cost                    $350.00/M Response rate                     .006                                                                                                    Cost per lead=$58.33 (350/6)                                        But if I raise the cost of the mailing list to $70.00/M or $50.00/M higher and get a response rate of 2.0 percent what is the outcome? Propensity based mailing: List                                          $70.00/M Total mail cost                   $400.00/M Response rate                     .02 Cost per lead                       $20.00 each (400/20)       The client that I mentioned reduced their mail volume by 3 million pieces and saved over a million dollars annually.   By switching their KPI. If your organization has put procurement in charge of your marketing expenses then I recommend you stop and review their decisions.  Efficient targeting is the key to lower cost per acquisition as opposed to lowest cost per thousand mailed.

The Medicare opportunities are rapidly flying past us Each month a new group of Baby Boomers qualify for Medicare. In fact, approximately 10,000 individuals per day search for information with keywords such as: “What is Medicare?” “What are the financial implications to me?” “What should frame my Medicare choices?”

Each year I ask my friends — colleagues who work at a healthcare-related entity — when does your Medicare marketing plan indicate that you should start evaluating the adjustments for the new year? You might be surprised how many companies are behind schedule and waiting too long to ask some of the most critical questions to set up for a successful year. As datadecisions Group only works on a few of the issues involved in offering Medicare to the senior American, I will limit my comments to those topics.

Are you prepared for AEP 2017? Are you targeting the right Medicare beneficiaries? Are you using the most productive marketing channels for Medicare marketing? What will get you better AEP results in 2017? We answer these questions in our new Executive Brief: Successful Data-Driven Medicare Marketing in 2017.

Do you have the right Medicare marketing communications platform for 2017? Not sure? Here are four important self-assessment questions that will help you decide.