The health insurance industry is undergoing revolutionary changes that are providing a multitude of new opportunities for providers. Nearly 12 million new consumers are estimated to be enrolling in healthcare by the end of 2015.The rise of exchanges has brought choice and personal responsibility to the retail market on a vast new level. Providers need to demonstrate how their plans can meet the needs of consumers which are described throughout this report. Consumer attitudes regarding cost, service, and technology are just a few of the insights available in the report.

This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Health Insurance – US, June 2014 report.

The health insurance coverage data provided in this report is from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. The most recent data available is from 2013. The Annual Social and Economic Census (ASEC) survey is conducted in March of each year, and it asks respondents about their status during or throughout the full calendar year preceding the survey. This means that most of the statistics derived from ASEC apply to the previous full calendar year.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through Lightspeed/GMI to explore consumer attitudes and purchasing behavior for the health insurance market. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in March 2015 among a sample of 2,000 adults aged 18+ with access to the internet.

Mintel selects survey respondents by gender, age, household income, and region so that they are proportionally representative of the US adult population using the internet. Mintel also slightly over-samples, relative to the population, respondents that are Hispanic or Black to ensure an adequate representation of these groups in our survey results and to allow for more precise parameter estimates from our reported findings. Please note that Mintel surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in the survey results.

While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.

In addition to quantitative consumer research, Mintel also conducted an online discussion group among a demographically mixed group of adults aged 18+. This discussion group was asynchronous (ie not run in real time), functioning like a blog or bulletin board, with questions remaining posted for a predetermined period of time. This method allows participants to respond reflectively, at their leisure, or to log off to think about any issues raised, and return later to respond. Participants were recruited from Lightspeed GMI’s online consumer panel with responses collected in April 2015. Relevant quotes are included verbatim, and as such, include typos and other grammatical errors as they originally appeared.

All estimated mail volume data and consumer direct mail marketing creatives are provided by Mintel Comperemedia.

Mintel Comperemedia is a searchable competitive database tracking direct mail, print, and online advertising in the US and Canada, as well as email in the US. Comperemedia tracks information across eight sectors: Banking, Credit Card, Investments, Insurance, Mortgage and Loan, Telecom, Travel and Leisure, and Automotive.

For more information, please contact Account Services Management at 1.312.450.6353 or www.mintel.com.

The following is a list of abbreviations used in this report.

Generations, if discussed within this Report, are defined as: