The other day, I was doing some Facebook power-browsing and I saw a targeted Tonik ad for my demographic in the left sidebar. I wasn’t able to get a screen capture of the ad because somebody’s profile caught my attention and I went back to power-browsing.
However, throughout the rest of the week I kept seeing ads for Tonik Health Insurance on sites and blogs that I read on a daily basis. I kept thinking, “Man, they must really be targeting my demographic!”
I already have a health insurance plan but their ad said “Simple, affordable health insurance” so I had to check them out.
As soon as I clicked on the link it took me to their fancy, colorful and hip homepage where they tried to give me all the buzzwords and quick facts that would make me feel like their plans were right for me (the “recent post-grad/young professional”).
Could it really be true? Is this some new health insurance company that understands what me and my demographic looks for in a health insurance plan?
I leave that up to you to decide. However, I will say that my questions were quickly answered when I did some deeper probing into their plans (and, saw that Tonik is really Blue Cross Health Insurance).
After seeing this new attempt by Tonik (aka Blue Cross) to get my health insurance business I decided that I would shed some light on what my demographic (recent post-grads/young professionals) wants from our health insurance providers.
Note: This is my personal opinion on what I look for in a health insurance plan, but I’m sure I speak for most recent post-grads/young professionals.
We like low monthly rates. We like reasonable copayments for everything. We don’t like medical costs going straight to our deductibles. These are all obvious things.
When you use jargon like “coinsurance,” “copayment,” and “deductible,” provide simple explanations of the terms and what they mean in the context they are used. People don’t like Google-ing every term and doing tons of external research on every phrase you use to explain your health plan.
Sure, we probably have college educations but that doesn’t mean we will understand the intricate meaning of a phrase like “You pay a $100 copayment plus all charges in excess of Covered Expenses for each emergency room visit.”
When you use a phrase like above you need to unpack and unravel exactly what it means, especially financially. We don’t like short yet complex phrases like this to be glossed over. Provide us with some examples, flow charts, data visualizations etc.
You can’t use a phrase like that and walk away quietly without a full, clear explanation.
Cheap office visits are always nice. But, what happens when I break my arm and I have to use a medical service that is outside the office. I don’t like to be pushed out into the scary non-office visit world without knowing what will happen.
Its nice that office visits are going to be warm, fuzzy and cheap. Why don’t you make me feel better and explain how a typical scary “outside” service will work, too. We know its going to happen sooner or later.
Show me exactly what doctors will be in my future health insurance coverage. Show me what doctors will be available for office visits, professional services, preventative care, chiropractic care etc.
Heck, why don’t you show me doctors that are available “outside” my health insurance coverage. It will make me think that you guys did your research on all the available doctors in the area and picked the best for your health insurance plan.
I like all information to be presented straightforward from the get-go. If x-rays are going to be expensive with my plan because they aren’t included in my warm, fuzzy office visits than say so upfront.
I would really be pissed if I got four months into my plan, broke my arm, and found out that x-rays weren’t filed under “Covered Expenses” in the intricate phrase “You pay a $100 copayment plus all charges in excess of Covered Expenses for each emergency room visit,” and that they really cost like $400 a pop.
In summary, cheap office visits, cool ad campaigns and fancy health plan names don’t cut it for us.
We want every plan detail and cost to be presented in simple, explanatory ways. Unpack and unravel intricate phrases and terms. Don’t be afraid to tell use that x-rays might cost $400. We like clean visualizations and flowcharts.
If you do that we will make better decisions and tell our friends. And, those two things will definitely be good for your bottom line (and ours).
