nยบ2 - Spring 2020
Navigating the Storm of COVID-19 Member engagement, communication is even more important during these turbulent times Click to see other articles
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5 lessons learned from the 2020 AEP
Deft Research report: Social determinants drive ‘convenience use’ of emergency rooms – but not for the reasons you may think
Hoping that insurance expansion will help tamp outbreak, 9 states reopen marketplaces
RISE Association launches new community, member portal for Medicare Advantage health plan professionals
2020 Medicare shopping and switching: Deft Research brief examines the growth of $0 PPOs
COVID-19: New-to-Medicare outreach to newly unemployed or uninsured DMW
Social determinants in the news: Social distancing may put those most vulnerable at risk; rural communities more likely to skip preventive care; and more
Expansion of telehealth services in response to coronavirus Inovalon
6 things Medicare Advantage health plans must do in response to the coronavirus
DMW execs offer key takeaways from RISE’s 2020 Medicare Marketing & Sales Summit" DMW
See our entire collection of Insights & Articles
Questions? Reach Out to Our Team
Kevin Mowll
Ilene MacDonald
Tricia Rosetti
Tracy Anderson
Debbie Weidrick
Executive Director
Editorial Director
Content Marketer
Marketing Coordinator
Graphic Designer
kmowll@risehealth.org
imacdonald@risehealth.org
trosetti@risehealth.org
tanderson@risehealth.org
dweidrick@risehealth.org
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Member A&E Newsletter
Note from the Director:
NAVIGATING TRICKY WATERS LET RISE GUIDE THE WAY Is there anything else going on besides COVID-19? Like everyone working from home, it sometimes feels like we live in a fishbowl where all the news is focused on the pandemic. And yet, for everyone working in the Medicare Advantage product line knows, 2021 CMS bids are still due June 1, come rain, shine, or coronavirus. A lot of strategy and thinking goes into these, of course, and recent analysis regarding the 2020 AEP enrollment results reveals there is a great deal of planning required to compete effectively in the AEP coming this fall. RISE is pleased to be a channel for news, webinars, user group meetings, and information sharing to help you navigate these tricky waters. Now that our Medicare Member Acquisition & Experience (Member A&E) portal is up and running, we have seen hundreds of RISE Association members claim their passwords and logon to tap into the rich resources available inside. As the big national plans continue to dominate the share of new Medicare Advantage members aging into Medicare, it is even more important to keep on top of developments, trends, and strategic options. According to an analysis provided by Deft Research, the zero-dollar PPO product is competing hotly for those new members particularly in the Southeast and other zones. The upswing in these products puts a lot of pressure on local and regional plans to create more diverse portfolios and value trade-offs in their product menus, for example. Changes to the Med Supp products, new Medicare Advantage supplemental benefit flexibility around SDoH, and many other changes in the landscape are accelerating and exaggerating the magnitude and speed of change. It is essential to be part of this vibrant community that we have built together with the local and regional plans to learn and adapt together to find successful ways to compete and thrive. To that end, be sure to sign up for marketing user group meeting on June 17. The date for the May sales user group meeting will be announced shortly. Join the conversation. Take a seat at the table with colleagues and peers as we figure out all of this together. Kind regards and wishes for your health and safety and that of your families,
Kevin Mowll
Executive Director, The RISE Association Click to see other articles
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RISE/ENGAGYS COVID-19 RESPONSE SURVEY RESULTS
The pandemic has caused a seismic shift in how we as a health care industry interact with our members. Members are feeling fear, uncertainty, and confusion. An intentional communications response is important to help members navigate their health care through these turbulent times. RISE and Engagys collaborated to reach out to health plans and others to help industry peers leverage one another’s experience during this challenging time. We designed a brief survey to query industry professionals regarding their current communications tactics. The instrument focused on communications prioritization and channels, messaging and focus, and ongoing communications strategies. As promised, the results of the survey have been consolidated and are summarized here for your review.
In this Summary Document • Methodology • Consolidated Survey Results • Summary and Next Steps 4
Member A&E Newsletter
Methodology The survey instrument was open for respondents from March 24-27, 2020. RISE and Engagys surveyed plans across the country. A mix of regional and national plans responded. Participants included executives from plans that spanned engagement and experience, operations, clinical and administrative.
Consolidated Survey Results 1. How are you prioritizing COVID19-related communications versus other member communications?
Interestingly, 46 percent of respondents are suspending all member communications unrelated to COVID-19. By halting all or some portion of non-COVID-19 related communications, health plans are responding with a focus on immediate needs. Engagys Insight: By halting some or all non-COVID-19 related communications, plans are helping to ensure members are receiving the important COVID-19 related communications.
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2. How are you funding communications activity related to COVID-19?
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Roughly half of respondents indicate that existing budgets are being diverted. Engagys Insight: Diverting or leveraging existing budgets to manage COVID-19 provided a quick solution to pivot to. Post COVID-19, diverted investment budgets will need to be re-funded or re-examined. 3. By what outbound channels are you communicating to members information regarding COVID-19? Please check all that apply.
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Respondents noted a high use of live agent outreach followed closely by both print and use of social media channels. SMS text and mobile applications are being used least frequently. Engagys Insight: The pandemic has shown, more than ever, the time is now for collecting and managing digital preferences. Sending a timesensitive print communication or one on an unrelated topic during a pandemic seems tone deaf. Putting in place infrastructure to support immediate digital communications is critical to address fast-changing message priorities.
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4. What are the most important messages that you are prioritizing as part of your COVID-19 communications? Please rank in order. Respondents noted that high-priority COVID-19 communications included information related to health, hygiene and social behaviors with steerage-related and test availability information deprioritized.
Engagys Insight: This chart highlights how quickly the messages that are front and center can shift. The focus on hand washing seems to have faded in the last two weeks, and, anecdotally, messages concerning
social determinants of health appear to have increased in importance. In our work with plans we have found that agility to modify communications priorities is lacking—this is an area that requires investment. Click to see other articles
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And yet members who call member services for assistance are interested in:
5. Have you seen an increase in overall call center activity in the last 30 – 60 days? Only a little over half of the respondent’s report increased call center volume. Engagys Insight: Plans, in some cases, report reduced consumer call center volume due to the reduction of non-essential procedures. 6. Have you seen significant inbound call volume related to the following COVID-19 related topics? Please check all that apply. Cost and benefits clarifications are the most common COVID-19-related reasons members are contacting their plan proactively. Engagys Insight: These findings, when compared with Question 4 on what plans are sending out, show a disconnect between what plans are providing versus members demonstrated concerns. Question 4 shows that plans are prioritizing the following messages in this pandemic: • Health, hygiene and social behaviors • Telehealth information • Benefits changes, network, or other administrative or plan information
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Member A&E Newsletter
• COVID-19 testing coverage and related benefits • Member specific benefit changes (i.e., home health visits, etc.) Supplying timely information on topics consumers care about can help build trust. 7. What is the duration of your current COVID-19 response plan? Only 12 percent of respondents have a COVID-19 response plan in place that spans 121 days+, with 45 percent implementing a 60-120-day plan and 42 percent planning near-term only for 60 days or less. Engagys Insight: The importance of a long-term plan is critical as the landscape across the country continues to shift. Soon, different regions will be under varying degrees of lockdown, and plans can be prepared now to improve personalization and effectiveness of communications to address preventive care, nonessential procedures and screenings in the context of COVID-19 concerns. 8. What department(s) in your organization owns the majority of the COVID-19 response to members? Primary responsibility for COVID-19 related communications varies significantly across plans, with only a plurality relying primarily upon the marketing team. Engagys Insight: The pandemic has highlighted the challenges of coordinating across internal silos within health plans. Centralized governance processes and technology investments should be under consideration as part of the adjustment to a potentially “new normal.”
Summary and Next Steps These results show that in the early stages of the pandemic, health plans responded to members’ most immediate and pressing needs through standard communication channels. Changes in the day-today landscape are unfolding at an incredible pace. Finding ways to remain agile are critical—the time for messaging around hand washing and social distancing is passing quickly. Plans must now be prepared to address more complex questions surrounding access to care for acute care unrelated to COVID-19, preventive screenings, and the needs of the newly uninsured. And to make it more challenging, some messaging may need to be targeted very narrowly as lockdowns around the country are lifted in a patchwork manner. Engagys helps clients develop communications strategies that demonstrate a path forward for members. For your reference, we have developed a framework to assist you in balancing your efforts and investments—through the lens of consumer communications: Resolve— Ready—Reimagine. Please feel free to access this document here. We are here to help. Please contact us if you require assistance. Kathleen Ellmore, Managing Director, Engagys kellmore@engagys.com
PS—Want to be part of a COVID-19 engagement discussion group with peers from other plans? If so, please email me directly.
Sign up for the results webinar
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USER GROUPS CREATE STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
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Member A&E Newsletter
MA&E MARKETING USER GROUP BRAINSTORMS ON COVID-19, AGE-INS, AND MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR THE AEP DURING A NATIONAL ELECTION RISE’s Medicare Member Acquisition Experience Community held its first user group meeting in March. Kathleen Ellmore, managing director of Engagys, and Renee Mezzanotte, EVP of client engagement at DMW, served as co-chairs. Here are highlights from the discussion.
The impact of COVID-19 Travel restrictions and the need for social distancing to avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus have led to many organizational changes. For example, user group members report they plan to attend webinars and virtual conferences this spring rather than live events. Others report an increase in plan members engaging in telehealth services with providers and member portals. However, older beneficiaries are not as familiar with digital tools so now is a good time to walk them through how to use these platforms. Individuals who are new to Medicare must decide on a plan and are responding to direct mail, but there is a significant increase in the number of people who are more willing to engage digitally. The digital platforms have allowed brokers to interact with members by having beneficiaries use DocuSign for permissions and then conducting virtual appointments. One user group member said her plan is supporting brokers by allowing them to call into its sales center for Med Supp or MA enrollments. This involves a two-step process that includes an enrollment
verification call.
Marketing to age-ins over 65
plan as one of the options.
Impact of national election on the AEP
To reach these potential enrollees, user group members take several actions:
Marketing plans vary. User group members said they intend to:
Work with Source Link to market to a list entitled “late to retire.” So far, the mailing has led to a 0.05 percent response rate. The mailing asks when they plan to retire, and the plan uses the responses to create a list for sales for outreach in advance of those target dates.
Be early to the market by scheduling meetings in advance. For example, one plan is scheduling sales/group meetings and home visits after Oct. 1. When potential members contact the call center in September, those agents would book these meetings ahead of the AEP.
Set up a Medicare education seminar with employer groups. Health plan staff serve as the subject matter experts and provide participants with a step-by-step decision tree document to help them with the process. This program results in several leads.
Offer Medicare 101 educational meetings throughout the year.
Collaborate with a local chapter of Society for Human Resource Management to present Medicare educational information. Have internal sales staff provide Medicare information to the insurer’s commercial brokers to cross promote plan information. The health plan employs Medicare sales reps who go to the commercial groups with brokers or internal commercial sales reps and serve as Medicare experts. This arrangement allows for a true partnership and brokers feel comfortable knowing that they still retain the group.
Use digital and social media channels instead of television sports. Send an affiliation letter in a plain white envelope in mid- to lateOctober instead of a traditional promotional direct mail piece as a way to stand out.
Join the next User Group meeting The next meeting of the Marketing User Group will take place on Wednesday, June 17. Dates for the Sales User Group will be coming soon. If you would like to participate in either user group, contact RISE Marketing Coordinator Tracy Anderson at membership@risehealth. org.
Have a third-party mail a provider affiliation letter that lists the health Click to see other articles
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3 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE FIRST MEETING OF THE MA&E SALES USER GROUP User group members discussed the impact of COVID-19 on Medicare sales strategies, the annual election period (AEP), and broker loyalty. RISE spearheaded its first Medicare Sales User Group meeting on April 21. The call was chaired by Alicia Kelley, vice president, Medicare performance, CDPHP, and Steve Selinsky, vice president of product, marketing, and community outreach, HAP. Here are the top takeaways from the conversation.
The impact of COVID-19 on sales strategies The need for social distancing led health plans to cancel all in-person events and rely on webinars to educate beneficiaries about their coverage. 10
Member A&E Newsletter
If they have not done so already, health plans must develop and embrace digital sales channels to prepare for the long-term impact of COVID-19. Kelley says user experience and web presence will be key in standing out against the national health plans in this new environment. User group participants are using different platforms to conduct sales and Medicare 101 presentations, including Facebook Live, Zoom, and WebEx. But no one had a magic bullet for which platform was the best, Kelley notes. Regardless of the platform, people are showing up to meetings. One Illinois health plan had nearly 100 people attend a Medicare learning webinar in April. The meeting was
heavily publicized via social media as well as emails targeted to current commercial health plan members approaching the age of Medicare eligibility. The health plan also asked registrants to opt in an email marketing list. Those that agreed will be added to the plan’s agingin campaign and a salesperson will reach out to them within the month.
Strategies for the AEP during a national election COVID-19 and the AEP during the Presidential election could create a “perfect storm” for Medicare sales and enrollment. One user group participant expects there will be a decline in the number of people shopping for new coverage during the AEP because of COVID-19
and the Presidential election. There will likely be little to no face-to-face interactions. Another user group member is starting to pull together resources to ensure field agents and internal teams have the necessary materials to conduct sales via the phone, email, or video conferencing. He anticipates a greater need for virtual educational seminars as more people who elected to not take Medicare will now need the coverage if they have been laid off or furloughed. They must make the transition earlier than planned. The key, participants say, is to have a Plan B and Plan C, and be ready to execute on those plans as quickly as possible. Kelley suggests that plans work with
their web marketing and technology teams to enhance online shopping tolls for both brokers and prospects who want to self-serve. “People may be less inclined to meet face-to-face this fall so you need to give them the tools they need to complete sales on their own or with minimal guidance from your sales teams,� she says. Furthermore, health plans must improve the user experience on sales platforms and provide a good experience, so consumers do not decide to go shopping somewhere else.
Building broker loyalty Some field marketing organizations (FMO) are using marketing dollars and enhanced shopping tools to buy loyalty with the national carriers, Kelley notes. National carriers are also
paying out commissions faster than the regional players. This creates an environment where smaller- to midsize carriers are finding it difficult to build broker loyalty in some markets. She suggests plans increase broker loyalty through high-touch service and ease of use of your plans.
Join the next user group meeting RISE will soon be scheduling the next Sales User Group meeting. If you’d like to participate, contact RISE Marketing Coordinator Tracy Anderson at membership@risehealth. org.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
MEDICARE PRODUCT DESIGN MASTER CLASS
SEPTEMBER 2020 Learn more at risehealth.org/product-design
COVID-19 Communications Response Survey Tuesday, May 5, 2020 1:30pm Eastern Time
CLICK TO REGISTER
JUNE 23-24, 2020 Learn more at risehealth.org/aep
NEW! Discussion Board Feature
CHECK OUT OUR MEMBER PORTAL AT RISEHEALTH.ORG/MEMBERSHIP 12
Member A&E Newsletter