Comments on: Product Channel Market Alignment; Blog Consulting

By: united quote

united quote — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:23:21 +0000

I hope Republicans show up for the Health Summit. The audience is the Independent Voters who really want to compare and contrast the Senate Health Bill (which was passed late last year with super-majority) and the ideas of the Opposition.

By: John Pogas

John Pogas — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:12:11 +0000

The two greatest hurdles any insurer (or broker for that matter) have today are a) their lack of current and relevant technologies and b) a negative customer experience.

a) I wish I could recall where I read this quote, but it goes something like this – “when it comes to our industry, we are the Amish of technology”. Kudos to Progressive for being… progressive. Their approach to technology has been far more end user centric and less broker centric.

b) Using Progressive again as an example, they have removed as many barriers to entry as possible. I am still stunned at how many insurers use their web presence as a funnel for the agent channel. If someone is shopping for insurance on-line, chances are, they do NOT want to talk to an agent. Adding the “agent filter/roadblock” is like putting a velvet rope in front of a Dunkin Donuts. “sorry sir – you can’t look at the doughnut case until you give me your name, address, etc”. No info – no cruller. Ugh….

By: Lindsay Resnick

Lindsay Resnick — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:10:16 +0000

Health reform will bring will be a lot of rethinking and reengineering across the health insurance landscape—in 2010 and beyond. This is especially true under a marketplace guided by tight mandated minimum Medical Loss Ratio requirements. There will be incredible pressure on health plans to reduce operating and distribution costs as well as pursue aggressive medical management to address the 5% of insureds that contribute to 60% of the cost.

It’s also means that consumers, from young invincibles to seniors, will have to embrace the long awaited movement of “health care ownership” characterized by customer engagement, shared decision-making, and patient compliance (e.g., wellness, prevention, chronic care, prescription adherence). Similar to the growth witnessed over the last several years in Consumer Directed Healthcare, individuals that are expected to buy their health plans through an exchange, albeit national or state-run, will be forced to insert themselves in the center of personal financial, benefit and medical decision-making.

On a good day health insurance is a bureaucratic nightmare. Under a newly reformed marketplace expect it to get worse before it gets better. However, don’t sell consumers short about managing a healthcare budget and comparison shopping…particularly when it means money out of their own pocket. Smart health plans will make user-friendly product information readily available to facilitate confident decisions: easy-to-read benefit guides, real-time tracking, credible provider price and quality comparisons, and vast libraries of shared decision-making content. The watchwords going forward are consumer education, behavior modification and product ROI. By removing the intimidation and confusion that usually greets health insurance consumers, we can achieve educated buy-in and boost consumer confidence in their product selections.

“Creativity is thinking up new things, innovation is doing new things.”

By: Dave Petno

Dave Petno — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:30:07 +0000

The insurance industry is no different from any other industry. It will fail if it fails to innovate. But it is a very competitive market. Except for the fact that the government imposes massive mandates, and shifts costs from Medicare/Medicaid.

I do not blame the insurance industry for the 100 year dream of liberals to control our healthcare

By: Steve Snell

Steve Snell — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:48:51 +0000

Mike, I like your triangle alignment metaphor. Extending that concept, why do companies like Apple, Harley Davidson, and Progressive enjoy much higher consumer satisfaction rates than health insurers? Though there’s piles of research that tell us exactly why, it’s because their brand PROMISE perfectly aligns with the customers’ brand EXPECTATIONS, which perfectly align with their customers’ brand EXPERIENCE. In short, words, all about alignment.

Apple’s products work. Harley’s work (though I do remember a time when they didn’t and the company almost disappeared). Progressive Insurance’s products work.

Health insurance rarely performs as expected. Millions of reasons why it doesn’t, and NONE of which the customer care about (nor should they). Their perspective is, “If FedEx can deliver a box of cookies to the other side of the planet by 8:30 a.m. the next morning, then why the hell can’t my insurance company properly process my claim for a routine office visit?” When they flip that light switch, they expect the lights to come on. When they turn on the tap, they expect clean water to come pouring out.

Alignment is key and it’s what’s missing in health insurance. You nailed it, Mike.