Marketing Medicare – BMS Notes

• Medicare influences most of the choices about healthcare made by adults 65 and older. Regrettably, there may be coverage gaps in original Medicare that prevent individuals from making the best choices for their health.
• It is not unexpected that a large number of seniors seek out human support—typically from a sales or phone representative—in order to enrol in a health plan during Medicare’s Annual Election Period (AEP). What is unexpected, however, is the rise in the number of agents and brokers employed and their growing influence over the process of making decisions. In fact, switchers were six times more likely to work with an agent in 2018 than non-switchers, with over 20 percent of Medicare seniors reporting that they had done so, according to Deft Research. Agents may assist with a variety of tasks, including analysing the costs and advantages of Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, determining which prescription medicines are covered, and determining which primary care physicians or preferred hospital systems are in-network. All things considered, Deft discovered that 46% of all MA members who obtained assistance from an agent or broker named the agent or broker as the primary motivator for their choice of plan.
• Medicare marketers should think about enabling and including influencers like as financial advisors, elder attorneys, CPAs, and providers in addition to agents and brokers. These experts are often approached for advice and suggestions about their alternatives for healthcare coverage by their Medicare-eligible clientele.
• You can’t just provide influencers with marketing materials and hope for the best when implementing an influencer strategy; connection development is necessary. To understand the requirements of the influencers—where they could be lacking in knowledge, how they want to be positioned in the decision-making process, etc.—a connection must be built and maintained. Then, solutions that are tailored to each person’s specific requirements must be created.
• Deliverables and strategies vary depending on the kind of influencer.
• For agents and brokers
• collateral that brokers and agents may use to sell as well as use to educate
• Personalized advertising materials
• A platform for distributing content where brokers and agents may request and personalise resources
• Regarding suppliers
• Marketing materials intended to maximise the space available in waiting rooms (note: the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has regulations for provider marketing that are particular to this area)
• Direct mail branded with the provider and aimed for provider patients
• For CPAs, elder attorneys, and financial planners
• Materials that influencers may use to educate themselves as well as to educate their network of contacts

Co-host a workshop or lecture on Medicare education and invite the influencer’s business book.