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Do You Even Data

A data-driven marketing blog

Want to learn how you can translate incredible data list information into killer marketing campaigns? Want to better understand how data research and models can enhance the data you already have?

Different Needs, Different Priorities

This is the sixth in a series of findings from Data Decisions Group’s 2022 Medicare Preferences Study. We explore the differences in importance Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement members place on attributes of their respective plans. While important to members of both plan types, access to specific providers and network resources is, by far, the main reason Medicare Supplement members choose the plans they do. Among 19 different plan attributes and features, more than 1 in 5 Medicare Supplement members identify their network coverage as the most important one. Among Medicare Advantage members, access to their preferred providers is one of three important attributes; prescription drug coverage and add-on benefits are nearly equal to network coverage in terms of importance for these consumers. Since network options are generally more limited with Medicare Advantage plans, it’s apparent that members are willing to trade off any HMO-like restrictions associated with their plans for the additional, low or no-cost benefits these plans offer, such as vision coverage, dental insurance, and, especially, prescription drug coverage. In most situations Medicare Supplement plans, unlike Medicare Advantage plans, offer these features only with additional premium costs. Medicare Supplement providers should recognize that there are a couple of unambiguous motivators for many consumers. First, access to their preferred doctors and specialists is of paramount importance, and second (related to the first) members need to believe that the premiums they pay are worth the value of that network access. A word about the methodology for this part of the research: The shares of importance for plan features were determined through a choice exercise known as Maximum Differential Scaling, or MaxDiff. In this exercise, respondents are asked to choose the most important and least important attribute from a short list of all the possible attributes. This choice exercise is repeated many times, with respondents seeing each of the 19 attributes several times, but in different combinations. All of the differences between Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement members in the chart above are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. Data Decisions Group conducted the 2022 Medicare Preferences Study, a large, nationwide study of Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement alternatives among 2,324 current Medicare-qualified consumers and 64-year-olds who will become eligible soon. The online study was fielded between March 28 and April 11, 2022. The margin of error for this study is approximately ± 1.5%. For more information about the research contact

  • 2 min read
  • Aug 4, 2022 7:30:00 AM

Brand Loyalty among Medicare Supplement Providers

This is the fifth in a series of findings of Data Decisions Group’s 2022 Medicare Preferences Study. Here, we review brand loyalty metrics for providers of Medicare Supplement coverage.

  • 2 min read
  • Jul 23, 2022 3:31:33 AM

Brand Loyalty among Medicare Advantage Providers

This is the fourth in a series of findings of Data Decisions Group’s 2022 Medicare Preferences Study. Here, we review brand loyalty metrics for providers of Medicare Advantage coverage. In Article #5, we’ll look at the same information among the major providers of Medicare Supplement plans.

  • 2 min read
  • Jul 14, 2022 6:30:00 AM

Brand Loyalty for Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplemental Providers

This is the third in a series of findings of Data Decisions Group’s 2022 Medicare Preferences Study. Here, we review brand loyalty metrics for the category overall. In Article #4, we’ll look at the same information among the major providers individually.

  • 2 min read
  • Jul 2, 2022 5:28:10 AM

Life is Full of Choices, Especially When it Comes to Choosing Medicare Coverage

This is the second in a series of findings of Data Decisions Group’s 2022 Medicare Preferences Study. In Article #1, we discussed the differences between age-ins and current plan members when it comes to determining the importance of Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plan features.

  • 2 min read
  • Jun 21, 2022 11:53:20 PM

Are Med Advantage and Med Supplement Features and Benefits Real or Imagined?

DDG’s Medicare Options Consumer Key Drivers Study quantifies the reasons Medicare-eligible (as well as those soon to be eligible, age-ins) consumers make the decisions they do regarding the Medicare options available to them.

  • 2 min read
  • Jun 16, 2022 4:11:23 AM

Birthdays and Marketing for Medicare

In 1984, I begin supporting a direct response effort by JCPenney Life Insurance.  The primary cash cow policy was “Birthday Life”.   The consumer message was very clear; if you do not buy before this date, your premiums will be higher.  Thus, it was critical to have the date of birth (and gender) for each individual.

  • 2 min read
  • May 11, 2022 7:45:00 AM

Will your Medicare AEP 2022 MA enrollment be a repeat of AEP 2021?

Or I might remark that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.".*

  • 4 min read
  • Oct 4, 2021 3:37:31 PM

Medicare Marketing & Sales Summit 2020

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 .