How Premera Blue Cross broke into the Medicare Advantage market [Q&A]
We also created a parallel path of engagement and partnership with providers so they were aware of our entrance into this market. It's a diligent effort--you really have to dot your Is and cross your Ts because the market is so highly regulated.
Bos: For 2015, all of our products are managed care products. Two of them are HMO plans with a point-of-service add-on to extend out-of-network coverage. And then two of them are more of a pure and traditional HMO product. The zero premium product is by far our most popular plan with a significant portion of our Medicare Advantage population, about 75 percent, in that plan.
Our zero premium plan is really competitive. And we have a broad network of highly respected providers. And I can't overstate the importance of the Premera brand.
A lot of employers in our area offer Premera plans to their members and when you add the Blue Cross portion to that, it makes Premera a well respected brand in this demographic. So the two points together make quite a nice partnership.
FHP: As a new entrant in the Medicare Advantage market, how did you design your products?
Bos: We based our product design on market research, existing marketplace plans and some in-depth focus groups with seniors to make sure we understood what was important to them from a health brand.
We also worked with providers to make sure that we understood their needs. From a provider perspective, it's about ease of management in making sure that their patients can get the care the provider thinks is best for them.
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