Insurers Ramp Up Marketing For Second Enrollment Season
The competition is increasing as more companies offer plans and insurers seek to get this year's customers to re-enroll as well as attract new ones. Also in the news, small business owners testing a new website for their workers report some problems.
The Wall Street Journal:
Health-Insurance Deadline Prompts Marketing Blitz To Drum Up Business
Health insurers are unleashing a blizzard of ads, letters, live events and other efforts to reach consumers, as the industry ramps up for the reopening of the health law’s marketplaces on Nov. 15. The companies’ outreach task is more complicated than it was last fall, when the exchanges made their debut. Now, insurers are trying to hold on to an estimated 7.3 million existing enrollees, as well as dig out millions of new customers who declined to sign up before. At the same time, they are pushing for a share of an increasingly crowded market, as more competitors have emerged in a number of states. (Wilde Mathews, 11/5)
The Wall Street Journal:
Small Firms Hit Bumps Test-Driving Health Site
Small-business owners test-driving the federal government’s new online health-insurance exchange report a mixed experience with the site ahead of its planned opening Nov. 15. The glitches range from business owners being unable to create accounts—a significant potential obstacle—to the lack of easy-to-spot instructions on the site. (Janofsky and Radnofsky, 11/5)