Trying to help new members prevent serious events or chronic conditions, one insurer is offering a reward system that may make health risk assessments more palatable, while also creating a window into the health of a new population.
Oregon's Health CO-OP, one of the nonprofit insurers started with federal Affordable Care Act loans, is offering new members its "SiMPLE" health plans up to $300 in wellness rewards, tapping into some of the gamification ideas in vogue in wellness programs but going straight to cash with the incentives.
Oregon's Health CO-OP, led by a physician and former Regence Blue Cross executive, is selling a range of individual, small and large group plans, including standard plans and ones branded as "SiMPLE" that have no co-insurance, deductibles only for inpatient and surgery care, and co-pays starting at $0.
For new members of these SiMPLE plans, the $300 wellness rewards are being offered in three parts, each worth $100, for taking a health risk assessment, identifying a current primary care doctor (if a member has one) and completing eight health challenges.
The 10-minute long online HRA, or "health style survey," is "intended to help members understand and raise awareness about their current level of health," as the company described in a media release.
The challenges portion uses an online program called Flourish, developed by the company Insignia Health, to try to motivate members and teach them self-health management through tailored health articles, quizzes, exercise and diet journaling and social networking. Health coaches are able to use the program to teach members about health practices or initiate lifestyle interventions.
Patient stratification
This type of "patient activation measure assessment" will let the co-op "stratify new members along a continuum of low to high activation."
"Capturing and understanding a member's health activation level is crucial to creating strong, long-term relationship with each person," president and CEO Ralph Prows, MD, said in a media release.
"This gives us the opportunity to truly personalize support and education based upon each member's self-management abilities from Day 1," said Prows, who worked as chief medical officer at Regence Northwest before helping found the co-op in 2012.
Both the HRA and challenges programs will give the co-op a better idea of their new customers' lifestyles, health concerns and long-term needs. Members will receive $100 checks in the mail for each of three programs they complete.
Not knowing the health needs of new members is one of the largest challenges insurers face in the new era of post-ACA risk management, and offering incentives -- in this case money -- for members to share their health background is a strategy that more than one insurer has adopted.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is offering new members $50 gift cards to complete health risk assessments, after launching a social media engagement strategy in 2011 to probe members and consumers' views on health reform and health plan policies that included raffling off gift cards and sports tickets to encourage participation.