The annual review and selection of health insurance for one’s self and family has become an American tradition. During these annual enrollment periods (AEP’s, but referred to under various names), employees, Medicare recipients, and those in the individual and family markets conduct their own variations of the due diligence necessary to assure they will be in the right plan in the coming year.
The annual review and selection of health insurance for one’s self and family has become an American tradition. During these annual enrollment periods (AEP’s, but referred to under various names), employees, Medicare recipients, and those in the individual and family markets conduct their own variations of the due diligence necessary to assure they will be in the right plan in the coming year.
While consumers are pondering their options, health insurers will spend millions in the attempt to attract, retain, and enroll new members. As we near the end of the enrollment seasons, Deft Research will be fielding major national studies geared to evaluate the degree of success these efforts have produced. The research season starts with “shopping and switching” studies published in the first months of the new year, looking at the individual and family plan (IFP) market and at the individual market for Medicare-related insurance.
What to look for when diagnosing AEP results
Here are some of the factors Deft Research will be tracking and evaluating in 2018.
- 1. Timing of Consumer Shopping. In the past, the number of seniors actively shopping for Medicare plans has reached its peak early in the AEP. By the end of October, more than half of all seniors are in the market, actively pursuing the information and assistance they need to make their decisions. Younger seniors and seniors who have switched in the past are more likely to be early shoppers. Learn more about Senior shopping and switching trends in the Executive Research Brief “It’s All in the Timing: Senior Shopping Patterns During the AEP.”
(Please continue reading here)
"Research is creative. You're presented with a problem that needs a creative solution. The key is to be persistent. We never give up. We keep trying until we find the solution."
In 2005, Rich joined forces with Randy Herman and Dan Freier of Pine Grove Management to start Deft Research and focus on the growing need for research for and about health insurance and health insurance consumers. Each of the executives has many years of healthcare experience working in the industry as researchers, actuaries, marketers, and in various corporate roles. Here Rich has focused on bringing out the special value of Deft's research - ascertaining the strategic implications of research results.
Prior to founding Deft Research, Rich was the executive director of lnterStudy Publications. There for one year, Rich ran the research department of the original lnterStudy non-profit think-tank. In year two, he led the transition of the department into a for-profit research company. The key development was licensing the lnterStudy franchise to Decision Resources of Boston and incorporating lnterStudy's work and brand equity into that organization.
Rich has degrees from the University of Minnesota and the University of Toronto