Author: Mintel Group Ltd.
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Health Insurance - US - June 2015
Scope and Themes
 
What you need to know
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.

Data sources
Market size data
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.

Consumer survey data
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.

Consumer qualitative research
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.

Direct marketing creative
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.

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

ACA | Affordable Care Act
ASEC | Annual Social and Economic Census
CPI | Consumer Price Index
HHS | Department of Health and Human Services
GPS | Global Positioning System

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

World War II/Swing generation | Members of the WWII generation were born in 1932 or before and are aged 83 or older in 2015. Members of the Swing Generation were born between 1933 and 1945 and are aged 70-82 in 2015.
Baby Boomers | The generation born between 1946 and 1964. In 2015, Baby Boomers are between the ages of 51 and 69.
Generation X | The generation born between 1965 and 1976. In 2015, Gen Xers are between the ages of 39 and 50.
Millennials | The generation born between 1977 and 1994. In 2015, Millennials are between the ages of 21 and 38.
iGeneration | The generation born between 1995 and 2007. In 2015, iGens are between the ages of 8 and 20.
Emerging generation | The newest generation began in 2008 as the annual number of births declined sharply with the recession. In 2015 members of this as-yet unnamed generation are younger than age 8.

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