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Costs Medicare Beneficiaries are Most Concerned About

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, many Medicare beneficiaries are worried about more than just their increased health risk or predisposition to contracting the virus. Large, unexpected medical expenses are more a factor now than ever.

A survey by healthinsurance.com polled more than 1,000 elderly (64-years-old and older) individuals to determine their views on several topics related to Medicare and healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results suggest a majority of current and pre-beneficiaries are worried most about out-of-pocket costs (66 percent) and unexpected medical bills (62 percent). In the United States, there have been 6.5 million cases of COVID-19 and 193,721 deaths.

About 35 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are worried about surprise medical bills if they contract COVID-19. If hospitalized through an in-network provider, a doctor who tends to the patient might not have a pre-existing agreement with your insurer; thus, bills the patient the full amount. Some Advantage Plans have temporarily waived the cost of treating COVID-19. However, the average price to treat a patient infected with the virus is $30,000. Generally, these surprise medical bills are infrequent, as the costs of treating a patient are partially covered by insurance. The specific amount, however, varies depending on their individual coverage.

Basic Medicare entails Part A (hospital coverage) and Part B (outpatient care/medical equipment), which are both associated with monetary costs. Since Part A does not include a premium (paid into the system through taxes), it does come with a deductible and copays for extended hospital stays. Part B does include a premium, deductible, and cost-sharing. These and other out-of-pocket costs worry most Medicare beneficiaries (66 percent), as stated above.

Fifty percent of Medicare beneficiaries have money set aside for their children or family to use for their health needs. Another 36 percent of the same beneficiaries have put off seeing a doctor due to costs associated with the visit.

At Omega Benefit Strategies, we understand the metrics of Medicare fees. We strive to provide the best Medicare options for your senior members. To learn more about the concerns of Medicare beneficiaries, read this article from CNBC.

Omega Benefit Strategies provides senior credit union members an educational resource for Medicare. Our turnkey marketing package seamlessly integrates with existing market strategies. We can help businesses increase new member acquisitions, bolster retention, cross-sell opportunities via our “scorecard” system, and even earn an ancillary revenue stream. Accommodating any size membership, we maintain exemplary member service and offer top-notch products.

Written by the digital marketing staff at Creative Programs & Systems: www.cpsmi.com.

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How amazing leaders gain followers

Integrity is key: The people who you are leading should not have any doubt in their minds that you are working for their best interest. If you keep your intentions pure and actions open, those who you are leading will not worry about what you are hiding from them. Tony Dungy says, “Integrity, the choice between what’s convenient, and what’s right.” When you lead, constantly remind yourself of this statement. Ask yourself am I doing this because it’s the easiest option, or am I doing this because it’s the right option? If you keep this in the forefront of your mind, you will not have depend on your position for power.

Trust: Trust is more than a five letter word, it’s a motivator, rationale, a unifying idea, and a guide. If you trust in your team and your team trusts in you, moving forward to your goal will minimize obstacles. Trust will allow you as a leader to unlock the potential of your following. If you build your foundation on trust, you will be able to focus on elevating your team, rather than focusing on if they will do their job properly.

Influence: Even though trust is the foundation, influence is the “way” you gain the trust of your following. Many amazing leaders like Martin Luther King, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, and Malala Yousafzai could transfer their ideas to the hearts of their listeners. When speaking to your following, do not forget that the message is important, but the delivery is what makes it “stick”.  Influence is not only what you say, but it is also what you do. Leaders can influence many people with their words, but exceptional leaders influence the masses by their words and actions.

Be Free, Be Open: We all can agree that the role of a leader can de-humanize the individual at times. Your followers may see you as a title rather than a person. To change that, allow your followers to see your vulnerability and the things that push you on a daily basis.  When you humanize yourself, it allows room for growth, for change, and many more elements of leadership.  It also eases the separation from yourself and your followers.

Please let us know which tip stands out to you!

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Tips to separate your brand from your competition

  1. Don’t wait to make meaningful connections.
    1. The time to cultivate personal connections with your clients should not only be prior to a launch or an event. The time to create these relationship should start when your client begin the process to becoming a client. The quicker you create that relationship, the quicker your client sees your company more as a person than a business. If you can make a personal connection with your clients, you will see an increase in retention and loyalty.
  2. Make it playful.
    1. Allow your clients to see the playful side of your brand! You can use subtle hints such as color schemes, or you can be bold and create a nice game or animation as they are waiting for a landing page to load. Many companies have created sketches and funny one-liners for their clients to listen to while they are waiting. Brands everywhere are capturing their audiences in a more playful style to engage and entertain them.
  3. Be bold with your hiring.
    1. Don’t be scared to go bold, or to try new things. If you are looking for longevity with your clientele, attracting the younger generation is the way to go. The younger generation will allow your brand to grow, be experimental, and reinvent the brand if needed. Being bold also means using social media platforms to their fullest ability. For example, using an Instagram story to create a poll, or creating a Snapchat filter for one of your events.
  4. Share precious moments.
    1. Allow your clients to see the beautiful moments that your brand creates. A couple of ideas are celebrating clients/employees’ birthdays, hosting a monumental sale, attending or hosting a community outreach event, and sharing client success stories. These moments can really humanize your brand and company for people, almost instantly. Highlighting these events not only help retain your current clients, but it allows you to cast a wider net of prospects.
  5. Make it worth sharing.
    1. We all know the best marketing is word of mouth. If a picture says 1,000 words, then posting a picture allows us to speak without saying anything. If the moment that was photographed was shared…your brand could reach millions of people in seconds! Every picture, video or image that is posted on the behalf of your brand should be a piece of the overall story that you’re trying to create for your clients and prospects.
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5 Tips to maximize your brand

  1. Don’t wait to make meaningful connections
    1. The time to make deep and personal connections with your clients are not 1 or 2 months prior to a launch or an event. The time to create these relationship should start when your client begin the process to becoming a client. The quicker you create that relationship, the quicker your client sees your company as a person rather than a business. If your clients can make a personal connection, you will see an increase in retention and loyalty.
  2. Make it Playful
    1. Allow your clients to see the playful side of your brand! You can use subtle hints such as color schemes, or you can be bold and create a nice game as they are waiting for a landing page to load. Many companies have created sketches and funny one-liners for the clients to listen to while they are waiting.
  3. Be Bold
    1. Don’t be scared to go Bold, to try new things. If you are looking for longevity, attracting the younger generation is the way to go. The younger generation will allow your brand to grow, be experimental, and reinvent the brand if need be. Being bold also encompasses using social media platforms to their fullest ability. For example, using Instagram to story create a poll, or creating a snapchat filter at one of your events.
  4. Share Precious Moments
    1. Allow you clients to see the beautiful moments that your brand creates. A couple of ideas can be clients/employees’ birthday, monumental sale, community outreach event, and client success stories. These moment really humanize your brand and company almost instantly. Highlighting these events not only help retain your current clients, but is allows you to cast a wider net of prospecting clients.
  5. Make it worth sharing
    1. We all know the best marketing is word of mouth. If a picture says 1,000 words, then posting a picture allows us to speak without saying anything. If the moment that was photographed was shared…your brand could reach millions of people in seconds! Every picture, video or etc. that is posted on the behave of your brand should be a piece of the overall story you want the client to know.

Sited from:https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/12/19/15-tips-to-increase-your-brands-visibility-with-experiential-marketing/#4ecacfb534ac

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These Member Retention Strategies Can Increase Your Profit and Enhance Your Image

Happy Credit Union Members-Retention

It’s the buzzword of the decade, and it smacks us in the face wherever we go. Millennials, millennials, millennials. Who are they? What makes them tick? How do we get them to engage? As important as it is for you as financial institutions to focus your sights on capturing this young demographic, you are doing a disservice to your member base by neglecting one of the most financially influential and largest generations affecting business every day. You guessed it, 2 words; Baby Boomers.

According to the US News and World Report, this generation remains the most influential when it comes to “economic decision making”. Baby Boomers, defined by the U.S. Census as those born between 1946-1964, are 76 million strong nationwide, and their influence on health care, technology, travel and e-commerce is only growing.

One of the most important facets of retention is understanding the needs of your members, and continually engaging them to see the value and importance of the services they receive from you.

  • According to an article in Truvantage: “Member retention is just as important as member acquisition. So the same enthusiasm and data-mining strategies that go into gaining new members should go into improving relationships with existing members. Credit unions that use data analytics to build relationships with members can positively influence retention rates. High member satisfaction levels lead to greater loyalty and referral business. However, all members are not created equal and some relationships are worth more than others. That’s why it’s vital to identify the most loyal and profitable members who can drive revenue at your credit union.”

 

  • Another way to create loyalty and gain retention is by training your staff to be in a “partnership” with your members, not just an order taker. Asking the right questions, giving them the proper training and constant engagement with your member base are all ways that create a feeling of need and comfort. As noted by Celeste Cook of CUInsights, “SHOW (don’t just tell) employees specifically what they can do, say, and/or ask to engage members in the right conversation. As a result, they can offer the right solutions and not just simply respond to a member’s request.

 

  • A defined and credible marketing strategy is another key factor to reaching the demographic you are targeting to maintain retention. Making sure that your data base is accurate and up to date so you can send the proper campaigns to the proper targets is extremely important in these cases. This Credit Union Times article states just that, in it’s simplest form; “Member services, product offerings and interest rates all come into play, but it is important to remember that marketing efforts can strongly influence retention. The best method of executing member marketing initiatives is certainly up for debate, but one thing is certain: in order to up-sell and properly market to members, credit unions must be able to communicate with them. Without the ability to communicate, credit unions are simply unable to educate their members about new offers or special rates.

 

  • Utilizing these strategies not only increases retention rates, but also helps eliminate wasted costs of sending information to people because of inaccurate data. Although it doesn’t seem like much at the time, it all goes to your bottom line, and at the end of the day without retaining your current members with value added solutions, your members are likely to get their solutions from somewhere else. As noted by Joel Curry, managing director of Experian QAS UK, “Improved marketing campaigns and member analytics enable credit unions to streamline operations and reduce costs, but more importantly, enhance the member experience and simultaneously increase up-sell opportunities. “

 

Do you know your member bases demographic? Are you forgetting to appreciate and edify the members that you have that currently use your suite of services? What else can you offer them to make their life easier? It is important to remember not to “bite the hand that feeds you” as it goes. Your current member base is already a captive audience, and by using these strategies, your members will only become more loyal and your best referral source. Perhaps even to their millennial grandchildren.

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4 Ways to Become an Invaluable Resource to Your Clientele

Every driven business person knows that the key to unlocking a lifelong client can be found when you become an unwavering resource. When you have the ability to add the perfect amount of value to your client’s life, aside from your products and services, they will be hard-pressed to leave for your competitors. Adding real value to your clients’ lives outside of just the product or service you offer is what it means to be a resource.

What are the benefits of becoming a resource or hub of information for your clients?

You become their go-to. Well, in any consultative role, an obvious reason is because you become a hub for your clients when they have a decision to make. Take a financial planner, for example. Hundreds of clients share with their financial advisor their entire financial portfolios. With that level of trust, it isn’t crazy to assume that your clients would welcome your recommendation and seek your guidance for other life decisions. Recommendations on things like home, auto, and health insurance, mortgage lenders, and even attorneys or legal counsel. If you position yourself as your clients’ go-to for other things, you are further embedded into their lives as a person they trust.

Retention rates are better. When you become a “hub” that helps your clients with the other stressors in their lives, they are far less likely to leave you. Not only will they value you for whatever primary product or service you are giving them, they will also value you as a resource for other areas. When your clients view you as a resource, they feel secure and comfortable as your client.

Referrals, referrals, referrals. You better believe that the more clients that trust you and look to you for advice in your field, the more people they will refer to you. Retention is essential to referrals. If a client is overly-satisfied with their service or product, they will tell their family, friends, and sometimes anyone they know. Delighting is essential to retaining clients, and retention is essential to referrals. Feed the cycle!

Okay, so we know the benefits of becoming a hub of information for your clientele, but how can you do it? We’ve come up these four ways to dazzle and retain by becoming a resource in their worlds:

  1. You have to be an excellent listener and learn to read between the lines. No, I’m not asking you to develop a super power, but learning not to just hear, but to truly listen is an art. When you genuinely focus on what your client says, it will be obvious what they value, what concerns them, and what stresses them out. When you gather these tidbits of information from your clientele and can read between the lines to find the underlying meaning, you have a secret weapon. Say, for example, you are the director of member services at your local credit union. A couple of your long-time clients, Ed and Luna Murphy, come in complaining that they are confused and overwhelmed by their healthcare options during open enrollment. Of course, as they are venting, they don’t expect you to be able to help them as it isn’t a primary service of a credit union- but what if you did? Listening to their problems can help you to see the needs and concerns of your clients, so you learn how to better serve them.
  2. You must be able to anticipate client needs (this is why it’s so important to listen). Taking our example of Ed and Luna Murphy, if you were actively listening the day they expressed their healthcare woes, you could help. Share with them a trusted local contact, and if you don’t have one, ask around and do a little research. In a way, this adds insulation to your relationship with the customer and positions you as a true resource.  You’d be surprised how far this goes for clients. Don’t feel like going the extra mile? That’s fine, just keep in mind your clients may leave you for someone who will.
  3. Be detail-oriented. Ever heard the expression “it’s the details that matter” or “it’s in the details”? Of course, we all have, and that’s because it’s true. Being detail-oriented means you will pay attention to small things that others overlook. Paying attention to when your client’s birthday or anniversary is, or if they have a big life change like a new baby or marriage, can take your standard conversation about banking to a meaningful, personal conversation. That sort of emotional connection helps us resonate and empathize with others.
  4. Be available when they need you. It doesn’t matter if you clearly post your office hours on the website, if someone tries to get a hold of you and can’t, it resonates with them. Now, obviously there are times when everyone needs to disconnect from their work, and that’s okay, but there are ways to make sure your client never feels isolated by you. That being said, when you’re working a regular week, try to be accommodating. That call at dinner might bother you at the time, but in the long run, your client will never forget the above and beyond service. If you aren’t available, make it easy for your clients to leave a message, and call them back as soon as you can.

Becoming a value added resource for your clients doesn’t come for free- it takes hard work. But the reward you get for doing so can be exponential.