How to Make Your Discount Medical Offerings More Appealing
For people who can’t afford traditional insurance discount medical plans and limited benefit medical plans are a solution that can be more affordable while still providing coverage. If you work for a discount medical plan or limited benefit medical plan, you know just how helpful your offerings can be to cut healthcare costs for people. Unfortunately, the general public doesn’t know much about DMPs and LBMPs, and some people also have misconceptions about what these companies do. In this blog, we’re going to address how you can make your plan offerings more appealing and more easily understood.
Honesty is the Best Policy
Healthcare is already confusing enough for people. Even people who work in healthcare get mixed up about several portions of the industry! It’s important to do your part to give clear information about what your discount medical plan or limited benefit medical plan does and doesn’t do. There’s a common misconception that a DMP or LBMP is the same thing as comprehensive health insurance, which isn’t good for your organization when a member gets hit with a big medical bill and realizes after the fact that they don’t have traditional health insurance to cover the bill. To avoid unhappy members and reduce churn, be upfront about what exactly you offer. Honesty from a brand isn’t just important for DMPs, LBMPs, or even general healthcare; increasingly, studies show that consumers prefer brands that are transparent. In one study, it was found that 94% of consumers are likely to be loyal to a brand that offers complete transparency. Plus, transparency ranked highest in a list of factors that lead consumers to be loyal to a brand.
Add Patient Advocacy Services
One of the purposes of discount medical plans and limited benefit medical plans is that they offer medical services at reduced rates with participating providers and facilities. Because of this, it’s important for your members to shop around for care and know what providers or facilities are partnered with your plan. Implementing a platform for members to easily and quickly shop around for healthcare will ensure members are getting quality care for a fair price. Healthcare navigation, whether through a self-service app or through a concierge patient advocacy service, can help direct members to even more healthcare cost savings. Plus, many patient advocacy services also offer bill negotiation for situations where members didn’t shop ahead of time and get stuck with an expensive medical bill. Offering patient advocacy services such as bill negotiation or healthcare navigation will not only potentially lower a member’s bill by a significant amount, it’ll reflect positively on your plan. Happy members = retained members.
Implement a Rewards Program
An incredibly helpful way to keep healthcare costs down is to practice preventative care. Exercising, eating healthy, getting plenty of rest, staying hydrated, taking vitamins, and eliminating unhealthy habits like smoking are all budget-friendly ways to do preventative care. As a DMP or LBMP, you can encourage members to practice preventative care by implementing a rewards program into your plan. For example, Rally Health is a platform that helps set wellness and preventative care goals for users. Once they reach a certain milestone or goal, users can use points to select rewards such as gift cards to their favorite stores and restaurants. This is not only a fun way for your members to become healthier and happier, but it also helps you to make sure healthcare costs are kept low. After all, paying for a gym membership is a lot less expensive than paying thousands of dollars for a heart procedure.
By being transparent about what exactly your plan offers, you’ll eliminate confusion with potential members and customers and increase overall trust. Clear communication and transparency are valued in any industry, but especially in healthcare. Adding specialty services will also help members feel supported and will set you apart from competitors who only offer basic components of a DMP or LBMP. With just these three simple tactics, you can make your discount medical plan or limited benefit medical plan far more appealing to existing and potential members.
