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December 12, 2005
Contact: Richard Hamer, 612/436-8318
Being a well known firm doesn’t mean much to seniors
Minneapolis, Minnesota – Most seniors don’t agree that the best known prescription drug plans will provide the best programs and services for the new Medicare Part D program.
According to the results of 902 telephone interviews conducted in November, 32% of all seniors disagree with the statement “The best known health care companies are likely to offer the best drug programs.” An additional 38% were ambivalent or didn’t know about the statement and 30% agreed with it. The margins of error for these results are +/- 3%. These results are part of Deft Research’s National Segmentation Study of senior citizens.
Deft Top Line Result:
”The best known health care companies are likely to offer the best drug programs”
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Seniors’ Responses |
Number |
Percent |
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Disagree
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288
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32
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Mixed
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204
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23
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Agree
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273
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30
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Don’t Know
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137
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15
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Total
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902
|
100
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National Segmentation Study, 2005, by Deft Research, LLC
The 30% who agreed is good news for insurers like United Health Group, Wellpoint, and Humana, who hope their market presence and brand equity will draw senior consumers to them. But what about the other 70% of the market that is not impressed by higher profile reputations?
Deft Research conducted the study to help users understand how to reach seniors better. The full study results explain this top line result. In this case, underlying concerns may be inhibiting the advantage of being a well-known firm. Seniors who are not as likely to be swayed by the reputations of Part D companies:
- are not confident that their current knowledge will lead them to the best prescription drug plan;
- are unconvinced that the new program will help them pay their bills;
- are less likely to feel Part D adds to the comprehensiveness of their health insurance;
- and have lower expectations for the professional advice and administrative services they’re likely to receive from Part D plans.
Other findings include:
- 68% of seniors obtaining supplemental health coverage from a Retired Employees Plan and 63% of those with private Medigap or HMO coverage disagreed or were ambivalent with the statement. Seniors eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, “dual-eligibles”, disagreed or were ambivalent 60% of the time.
- 60% of those with the highest estimated risk scores disagreed or were ambivalent with the statement (RxHCC scores estimated through CMS’ Drug Risk Model). Higher risk scores result from a combination of age, gender, health conditions, and the intensity of pharmaceutical treatment associated with the conditions.
If the top line result is an indication that the Part D market is more wide open than we believed, then, regardless of current fame and recognition, the firms that address seniors’ concerns most effectively will have a better chance of meeting and exceeding their enrollment projections.
The Deft study captures approaches to thinking, coverage issues, health conditions, and specific economic concerns allowing its users to ask “Why are results as they are.” When users answer this question, they can take action.
With the study, Deft Research has produced market segments based on motivations and concerns, need, and current insurance status.