The Hill examines marketing tactics related to Part D
Free gym memberships, discounts for acupuncture therapy and vision-care reimbursements are among the offers health-insurance companies are touting in their multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns for Medicare prescription-drug plans.
Medicare beneficiaries can “save money with Prescription Pathway,” get the “Aetna answer,” chat with Humana’s “let’s talk” campaign representatives or get “coverage you can count on” from UnitedHealth Group, the insurer teamed with AARP.
Insurers are spending millions of dollars promoting their Medicare drug plans.
Marketing and operations for the Medicare prescription-drug benefit is big business. Aetna and PacifiCare Health Systems are spending $50 million each, while CIGNA is doling out $40 million. UnitedHealth Group’s budget is $75 million. Humana has already spent $80 million on marketing.
Companies are probably spending so much on marketing for the Medicare prescription-drug benefit because “the product is so complex,” said Paul Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change.
With upwards of 50 choices in many areas across the country, many insurers are pitching how simple their plans are.
Republicans and the insurance industry have a lot riding on easing seniors’ concerns. If confusion envelops the drug benefit, Republicans — who rammed the bill through Congress in 2003 — will suffer at the polls in 2006.