Bloom Health - a defined contribution company

Of all the health reforms underway, none gets more attention than the public insurance exchange. Representing a fundamental shift in the way people compare and purchase health benefits, these public exchanges promise to increase consumer choice and offer a variety of benefit options that meet the needs of a diverse spectrum of consumers.

It’s a good idea, and if designed properly has the potential to make a meaningful impact in health insurance reform.

Interestingly, the private market has been offering these exchanges for the past few years, with good results. Employers like the flexibility and their employees are happy with the level of choice that they get. Our results show employees that are offered an array of options are truly enrolling in a wider spread of plans – no more defaulting to the one size fits all approach.

The question that arises then, is how will these private exchanges interact with the state exchanges, if at all? Will they compete head to head? Or is there another scenario?

Here at Bloom we believe that the private exchanges can coexist with and even complement the state exchanges. To understand how, think about how an individual investor buys shares today. They don’t show … Read More »

The world of healthcare will continue to change in 2012 as a result of health care reform, as some early provisions of the new law start getting adopted.

But one thing will remain the same as in past years: employers will continue to struggle with rising and unsustainable health care costs, and employees will continue to feel the burden.  The LA Times reports that preliminary findings of a survey by national benefit consulting firm Mercer show that, without implementing cost-cutting measures, employers expect their average health benefit costs to rise by 7.1% in 2012.  The survey also concludes that the expenses employees pay out-of-pocket for their benefits will outpace the increase in their earnings.

And while many employers will continue the decades-long struggle to combat rising benefit costs, some are taking a new approach that helps them predict healthcare costs as well as provide workers with greater choice and more personalized benefits.  It’s called defined contribution, and while a number of forward-thinking companies have already waded into the defined contribution pool, I believe that 2012 is the year that employers will fully embrace this emerging health benefits model. I expect an even greater increase in membership for 2013 as … Read More »

Last week The Washington Post and Yahoo! via the Associated Press, provided an update regarding the implementation of one of health care reform’s more popular provisions; more comprehensive summaries of health plan options. A sensible idea with a lot of support, right? But now we learn that the implementation of this provision is in jeopardy.

Health insurance is a complicated topic, no doubt about it. And a quick scan of the comments to the posts confirms the desire from consumers to understand the costs of their coverage. One commenter exclaims, “Oh man, would this be welcome.”

At Bloom, we’re in the business of helping consumers understand the coverage options in front of them so they can make the best decision for their needs. The screenshot featured here is an example of exactly how we present plan details to Bloom members day in and day out.

We’ve found our members to use Bloom’s plan comparison tool to see how one plan will meet their needs over another. In addition to online resources, Bloom members can quickly and easily tap into one of our most valuable resources – the Bloom Advisor Team. With one call, members receive unbiased and friendly consultation about … Read More »

It’s no secret that consumers often have less than positive things to say about their health insurance.

Late last year social media analytics firm Amplicate fielded a survey to see what people were saying online about health insurance, and the survey revealed that 70 percent of all social media mentions of insurers were negative.

“They are impossible to deal with,” one consumer posted online.  Another offered: “Bleed a little slower on your way to the out-of-network hospital.”  Complaints about the frustration of being unable to talk to a knowledgeable customer support representative are pervasive.

It’s not surprising, then, that the Net Promoter Score (NPS)—a widely-accepted metric by which many consumer-oriented companies measure customer satisfaction—for the health insurance industry is -13%.  As in negative 13 percent.

As long as consumers regard insurers as impediments to, rather than enablers of, good health, it will be difficult to leverage the full suite of capabilities health plans offer their members.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

We have been offering health insurance through a defined contribution approach since 2010.  And today, our NPS stands at about 17 percentage points above the health insurance industry average.  Across the board, consumers who purchase health … Read More »