The Affordable Care Act’s March 31 deadline for enrollment is almost here, now health plans must focus on retaining all of the new members they just enrolled. eBilling and ePayment will play critical roles in high member retention. This blog and the associated webinar give you the 5 imperatives for retaining your newly enrolled members.
Big Market Share Shifts
Dramatic market share shifts impacted many health plans the past few months, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota losing significant market share. They had 59% of the individual market before the Affordable Care Act, but only captured 24% of the exchange market as a result of the Affordable Care Act, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Retaining Newly Enrolled Members – eBilling & ePayment Are Key!
As the battles for market share continue, how can your health plan hold onto your newly enrolled members? You must leverage the most frequent and regular engagement with the plan member, the monthly bill. When members come to make a payment are they delighted with the options you offer them? Member expectations for eBilling and ePayment are set by their experiences on Amazon and Verizon, health plans must keep up to satisfy and retain members.
5 Imperatives for Retaining Members
1. Compare current member experience to today’s best practices from leading Internet sites
a. Do you offer convenient electronic options throughout the billing cycle: bill available alert, view bill, pay bill, turn off paper, due-date reminder if necessary
2. Offer omni-channel services: mobile, web, IVR, call center, eLockbox
a. Do you offer all channel options for eBilling and ePayment to satisfy the diversity of member preferences?
b. Are all channels integrated together allowing members to seamless move across channels?
3. Integrate consumer marketing to drive eBilling & ePayment usage
a. If you build it, who says they will come? Do you integrate consumer marketing across pay per click advertising, search engine optimization, PR, direct mail and all other channels?
4. Position for future – members will expect to pay their bills with the money instantly coming out of their account and instantly being credited to your bank account.
a. Are you preparing for real-time payment settlement?
5. Calculate return on investment from upgrading your eBilling and ePayment
a. How much can you increase member retention?
b. What is the value of each member relationship?
c. Billing costs can be cut by 50%
With the deadline approaching, what’s next for health plans? Some will lose many of the new members they fought so hard to enroll because their eBilling and ePayment options did not meet member expectations. Other plans will succeed in delighting and retaining their members.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, Forrester Research, and ACI Worldwide invite you to discover the key to retaining new members in their upcoming webinar. Click here to sign up for free.
