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Whether driven by the lack of employer-offered coverage, the need to find an affordable policy, or other concerns, Americans are increasingly buying health care coverage individually. In fact, according to Forrester Research, 10 percent of U.S. consumers buy their health insurance on their own.
To help insurance agents capture a bigger share of this growing market, Benefitfocus® has introduced a technology that eases the online shopping experience for consumers looking to directly purchase their own health care coverage. Benefitfocus eDirect™ enables health insurance carriers to offer individual health, life, and dental plan policies in innovative ways while tracking the return-on-investment for specific marketing campaigns and assigning proper commissions to agents. The technology allows sellers to create a Web-based storefront in which consumers can compare policies, apply for coverage, purchase a plan for themselves and their family, and make payments through a credit card or bank account. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City has seen the dramatic difference that using Benefitfocus eDirect has made. “The individual market we have captured using Benefitfocus eDirect represents 18 percent of our total block of business,” explained Roger Foreman, EVP of Sales and chief marketing officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. “The norm for this market in the Blue plans is 8 percent.” Foreman noted Benefitfocus eDirect also has made the process of selling coverage much more efficient. “The process to reach individuals from a marketing campaign and/or broker to application submission and underwriting review used to be completely paper driven,” he said. “With this new automated technology, we’ve not only experienced a rapid growth in the ability to reach the individual market, but a reduction in processing time from over four days to less than twenty-four hours.” The rate at which Americans are shopping online indicates the growing purchasing power of consumers through retail electronic commerce. According to iCrossing Inc.’s August 2007 survey, “39 percent of online adults make a purchase on the Internet at least once a month.” Further research from iCrossing Inc. shows 42 percent of all consumers perceive that information they find online about brands and products influences their online purchasing decisions. Shawn Jenkins, Benefitfocus president and CEO, said that Benefitfocus eDirect will help drive the “consumerism” trend in health care—and that this trend has staying power. “For several years people inside the health care industry have been discussing ‘consumerism’ in health care and wondering if it will be [a] long-term influencer or just a passing fad,” Jenkins said. “Most of this discussion has been around a very narrowly defined aspect of consumerism, namely High Deductible Health Plans and Health Savings Accounts. These products and their adoption alone are not significant enough to influence market sweeping transformation to consumerism. What we are introducing with Benefitfocus eDirect is a complete engagement of the consumer on all levels of their health care decision-making. It is so much bigger than simply the uptick in certain products.” |
