By Allison Bell | December 07, 2020 at 11:12 PM
Google search activity for "Medicare Advantage" seems
to be about 13% higher than it was a year ago.
(Credit: CMS)
Medicare plan issuers and distributors might have succeeded to drawing
older consumers’ attention away from the elections and COVID-19.
The Google Trends tool shows that search activity for the
term “Medicare Advantage” was about 13% higher during the Medicare annual
election period that ended Monday than it was during the comparable period
in 2019.
Search activity for “Medicare Part D” and “Medicare supplement”
has been about the same.
Resources
·
A
Google Trends comparison of search activity for the terms “Medicare Advantage
and “Medicare supplement” are available here.
·
An
article about Walmart jumping into the Medicare plan agency
business is available here.
The annual election period for Medicare Advantage plan coverage
and Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7
every year. The annual election period that just ended was for coverage that
starts Jan. 1, 2021.
Medicare supplement insurance products, or Medigap products,
have an open enrollment period system tied to people’s birthdays, rather than a
single enrollment period for all consumers.
Medicare Basics
Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people ages
65 and older; people with kidney disease serious enough to lead to dialysis or
a transplant; and people with Social Security Disability Insurance.
About 25 million of the 63 million people with Medicare coverage
have signed up for Medicare Advantage plans, or plans that give private
insurers a chance to offer an alternative to traditional Medicare.
About 38 million Medicare enrollees use traditional Medicare
coverage, which Medicare program managers call “Original Medicare,” and 14
million of those Original Medicare users buy Medicare supplement insurance, to
pay Original Medicare deductibles and to fill in other holes in Original
Medicare benefits.
Google Trends Barometer
Google uses its own search traffic to power its Google Trends
search activity analysis tool.
One problem with this method as a market strength barometer
this year is the COVID-19 pandemic. Many Medicare enrollees are trying to stay
home as much as possible, and many are still avoiding face-to-face meetings
with financial professionals.
But search activity for other terms older consumers might use,
such as “AARP,” “home care” and “grocery delivery,” have been about the same
during the 2019 annual election period and the annual election period that just
ended.
YouTube Barometer
Recently posted YouTube “Medicare plan” videos sorted by views
reveals that UnitedHealth Group Inc. and eHealth Inc. have
been especially active at marketing Medicare plans through YouTube videos and
YouTube commercials this year.
But a comparison of search activity for “Medicare Advantage”
with other terms consumers ages 65 and older might use shows:
·
UnitedHealth has
generated 12 million views with a 31-second “Wow! Zero-Dollar Co-Pay Plans”
video in just a month, and 5.9 million views with a 16-second video about
Medicare plans with vision coverage.
·
EHealth, a web broker,
has generated 3.9 million views with a 3-minute video about shopping for
Medicare Advantage plans online.
·
The Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that runs Medicare, attracted
1.9 million views with a 16-second video about the start of the annual election
period.
Consumer Knowledge Gaps
Medicare plan marketers say they continue to see widespread
problems with Medicare enrollees’ health insurance literacy.
Managers of MedicareAdvantage.com,
a Medicare plan lead-generation site affiliated with Tranzact, an arm of Willis
Towers Watson LLC, recently reported that only 44% of the Medicare
enrollees they surveyed could define the term “deductible.”
Similarly, Oak Street Health, a company that provides routine
health care, found that 25% of the Medicare enrollees were confused about the
differences between the various Medicare plan options. About 78% of the Oak
Street survey participants said they were satisfied with their Medicare
benefits, but only 53% said they understood their Medicare benefits.
What Consumers Are Buying
When eHealth analyzed its Medicare plan shoppers, it found that
what the shoppers are paying out-of-pocket for their share of the coverage
premiums may stay about the same in 2021.
Midway through the annual election period, consumers’ share of
the monthly premiums for 2021 Medicare Advantage plan coverage was $5, or about
the same as the 2020 average.
Consumers’ share of the monthly premiums for 2021 Medicare Part
D prescription drug plan coverage was $20, unchanged from the 2020 average.
Shoppers’ Medicare supplement insurance premiums increased to
$160 per month for 2021 coverage, from $157 per month for 2020 coverage.
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