There's little doubt that the presidential election's surprise result will have some of the biggest implications for the United States' healthcare system.
The past eight years and the expectations for the next four have leaders at health insurers suffering from whiplash, and many are somewhat paralyzed by the unknown. But, regardless of where policy lands, research data shows that health insurance companies have long ignored or put off another significant issue that is preventing them from competing effectively and serving their members with a meaningful and valuable experience. One of the hallmarks of the American healthcare system is its technological ability in medical treatment and recently, the connectivity of members with the rise of digital communication and connected devices. From telehealth to IoT-enabled everything, we now can monitor, treat and communicate our health to providers and caretakers instantaneously. Driven and accelerated largely by the Millennial generation – who have grown up with the Internet and smartphones – communicating and engaging digitally with important institutions that affect our lives (banking, shopping, education, work, etc.) is a given and a necessity. Millennials are now the largest age segment of the United States population at 75.4 million, having recently surpassed the Baby Boomers at 74.9 million (Pew Research Center, April, 2016). Deloitte, in their Consumer Survey of 2015, reported that use of technology to measure health and fitness goals is highest among Millennials at 45 percent, with GenX ranking second at 30 percent.
Yet, when the vast majority of us deal with our health insurers, it's usually by snail mail or phone, which inherently creates extra costs and introduces the potential for more errors. The fact is that consumerism has come to the health insurance market, and health plans must be ready and able to meet heightened member expectations. Consumers have more choice of health plans, information is widely available from many sources, and members now expect and demand an increased level of transparency and a delightful experience from their health plan. However, while technology has played an important part in revolutionizing the way we receive healthcare, many insurers are failing to engage digitally with their members, particularly with Millennials. Even among the insurers that have begun to offer digital communication, engagement is so low that the values both bring are usually negated.
In a recent study of 2,500 health plan members across the United States, responses clearly indicated that health plans must upgrade their offerings and provide technology that matches or exceeds the expectations of their members, or risk losing those members to competitors in today's new, consumer-oriented marketplace. Members care if their health plans lag behind in tech-savviness. In the State of the Healthcare Consumer study, 57 percent stated that their confidence in the health plan's ability to provide effective coverage and benefits would be adversely affected by the knowledge that outdated technology is being used.
And what about among Millennials – a key demographic who are generally healthier and help offset costs of older populations? With health plans needing to focus on serving the consumer needs of all of their members, the study shows that the youngest generation with their own insurance is largely shying away from any real interaction with their health plan.
Millennials have been shown to exhibit a lack of reliance on health insurers' digital resources, despite their overall use of technology. The same study found that less than half (42 percent) of all Millennial members use digital methods (e-mail & website combined) to communicate with their health plans. Interestingly, Millennials use health plans' websites and e-mail less than any other age group, even the 73+ age group. So despite their advanced use of technology, Millennials see the health plan's technology as ineffective and the value of communicating with the health plan electronically as very low.
Instead, Millennials are turning to other sources — physicians, friends and family — for pertinent information on health related issues. Health plans, without direct and meaningful interaction with their Millennial members, are missing a significant opportunity to market to and build loyalty with this critical population segment.
This very low perceived value has caused Millennials to report a heightened level of frustration obtaining basic information and getting issues resolved by their health plan. A whopping 90 percent of Millennials believe that their insurer should be doing a better job digitally communicating with them about their individual financial responsibility — the highest among all the age groups surveyed. In addition, Millennials were the most likely group to have difficulty getting information from their health plan related to coverage. They also are the least likely age group to have had an issue resolved in their favor. This accumulation of bad experiences must be addressed by health plans, because attracting healthy populations of younger generations is key to keeping premiums down for everyone, which was a major contributing factor to recent ACA plan premium hikes.
And, as I mentioned earlier, what about the rise of connected devices and wearables, designed to keep us healthier? Wouldn't Millennials see it as a differentiator if their health plan offered such incentives or programs? The answer is absolutely. Millennials were the age group most interested in incentives for healthy diet and/or exercise and discounts for healthy behaviors. As part of this preference, they wanted to connect wearables information to a portal for upload and be able to review rewards and incentives earned online. Despite this desire, 41 percent of Millennial respondents reported that their health plan does not offer any of these programs.
The bottom line is that Millennials are the key demographic to keeping health insurance affordable for everyone, but they have specific needs and clear preferences for digital communication of important information and availability of key resources. They are discerning consumers who choose their sources of trusted information very carefully. Health plans must address Millennials' particular requirements and focus on this important population, as this member segment wields great influence and buying power now and for a long time to come.
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