Millions of Americans don’t have health insurance —28 million Precisely. But there are millions more who struggle to access the hard-earned benefits they have because they are notoriously—sometimes intentionally—hard to use.
First Dollar just released the results of the first round of the 2022 Census of Health Care Benefits, A study conducted by Harris Poll. Harris surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults 18 and older who have health insurance and have a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or Health Savings Account (HSA).
Not surprisingly, people who actually use their benefits will be delighted. Benefit utilization and customer satisfaction (measured by NPS or Net Promoter Score) are closely related. As for those who have difficulty using benefits, or who don’t use them at all? The group was very upset.
In particular, there is a stark gap between those who understand its benefits and those who do not. It’s difficult for members to keep track of their benefits and know where to find information about their benefits, or they simply don’t have time to review all of their benefits.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Most health insurers go to great lengths to educate customers and offer simplified solutions. This is a huge problem for our industry and system, and if you want to grab market share or make your program stickier, there’s no easier way to improve it.
By the way, the average NPS score of the health plan is 27. In particular, most people don’t like and wouldn’t recommend HSAs, FSAs, and other consumer-oriented benefits. Negative associations with these products can significantly reduce overall customer satisfaction and retention.
A sort of polls Maestro Health found that one-third of employees were unaware of their health benefits. There is a direct correlation between people being dissatisfied with their overall health plan and knowing what benefits they have and actually using them.
Some companies even make more money when the balance is unused or lost. Every year, $30 billion is wasted on tax-advantaged accounts and supplemental benefits. In 2019, 44% of workers confiscated Part or all of the FSA contribution. The average amount forfeited was $339, and the median forfeited was $157.
As an industry, we must do everything we can to help ensure the health and well-being of the people we serve.
People are looking for an intuitive, simplified healthcare experience. When presented with a single-card solution that simplifies the way they pay for healthcare services, 84% of members said they are at least likely to switch to a health plan that offers such a solution.
This presents a unique opportunity for modern, membership-driven programs to drive benefit utilization and, in turn, NPS. Unfortunately, until recently, the kind of technology-first payments infrastructure needed to innovate in this space has not been achieved.
Behind most consumer-oriented interests lie various legacy systems built for different eras. Whether you’re adapting an existing program design or creating an entirely new program design, anyone can improve their competitive advantage with software-defined advantages.
But increasing benefit utilization to higher levels is not only good business, but the right thing to do. Our members work very hard to earn their benefits right from the start. We need to work harder for them.
