Two Papers on the Health Plan Medicare Opportunity

By Clive Riddle, August 2, 2019 

Oracle has released an Executive Insight paper on the Opportunity Ahead for Agile and Efficient Medicare Advantage Plans,  cautioning that “While the opportunity is great, MA plans are not automatically a wise or profitable business decision for all health insurers. There is growing competition as new players enter the market, and cost and margin pressures continue unabated. To make the most of this opportunity, MA plans must look to accelerate innovation while optimizing costs across their enterprises— from marketing and enrollment to plan configuration, claims processing, compliance, and renewal.”

They report on three development plans should consider now:

1. It is “Time to flex strength with expanded flex benefits. In 2019, MA plans were cleared to offer new flex benefits, designed to move plans toward expanded population health capabilities.”
2. “MA plans look to differentiate on other fronts and deliver high levels of service—without placing profitability and stability in peril.”
3. Payers are eager to bring new urgency and focus to improving claims accuracy and delivering innovative provider payment models.

HealthEdge has just released results of its Voice of the Market Survey, a study of 201 health insurance executives directly involved in Medicare lines of business. 92% responded that they are trying to grow their Medicare Advantage book of business faster than their traditional Medicare Supplement business.

Here’s some key findings from their survey:

• 53.2% said the value-based model of Medicare Advantage significantly factors into a desire to grow the business, while 42.8% said it moderately factor in.
• Expanding to new service areas ranked first in level of importance as the steps being taken to attract new Medicare and Medicare Advantage members, followed by (2) Appealing to tech-savvy digital consumers; (3) Providing incentives for healthy behaviors; (4) Addressing social determinants of health; and (5) Marketing/advertising to prospective members
• Applicable steps above get re-ordered somewhat when ranking importance to retain current Medicare and Medicare Advantage members: (1) Appealing to tech-savvy digital consumers; (2) Addressing social determinants of health; (3) Providing cost transparency; (and 4) Providing incentives for healthy behaviors; (5) Providing education services to members about their benefits
• There is not consensus on what is the biggest challenge to acquiring new members in the Medicare or Medicare Advantage (MA) line of business.  29.4% said it was funding/executing marketing outreach to  attract new members; 23.8% said competitors who  dominate the market; 22.4% said offering the variety of  plans necessary to satisfy members; and  19.9% answered differentiating  between MA and  traditional Medicare.
• When asked “what is the biggest external challenge your organization faces in the Medicare and Medicare Advantage line of business.” Competitors seem top of mind, with 34.3% responding “competition”; and another 29.9% stating “members unwilling to switch plans from a competitor. Other responses were 19.9% replying “regulations” and 15.9% saying “member demands.”