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It seems that most Americans have made up their minds regarding how they perceive the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. A poll this spring for CNN revealed that 50% of Americans oppose the law, 43% support it and 7% have no opinion.
Even the members of the Supreme Court — set to release a landmark ruling on PPACA’s constitutionality on June 28 — cemented their views long ago, according to court watchers. "I think the justices probably came into the argument with their minds made up. They had hundreds of briefs and months to study them," Thomas Goldstein, publisher of closely watched SCOTUSblog.com and a prominent Washington attorney, told CNN.
However set Americans and justices might be in their opinions, though, one big health care stakeholder is launching a PR campaign to change how it is viewed, and is leveraging the impending ruling to do so: the insurance industry.
According to a recent New York Times article, many large health insurance carriers — including Aetna, Cigna and Humana — have introduced “elaborate marketing campaigns to reposition themselves as consumer-friendly health care companies, not just insurance providers,” in the event that PPACA’s individual mandate compelling people to purchase insurance stands up to SCOTUS scrutiny.
Even if the mandate is found unconstitutional, insurers are moving forward with the campaigns, believing that either way the ruling will change the way health insurance is purchased going forward, the article notes. “More and more, the end consumer is who we need to focus on,” said Belinda Lang, the head of brand and consumer marketing at Aetna told the newspaper.
Among the revamped messaging is Cigna’s “Go You” campaign http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSYjMmIRWl4&list=PLDA2AA30A884EBEED&feature=plcp, and Humana’s member rewards program that offers members points for healthy behavior like losing weight or quitting smoking that can be redeemed for hotel reservations, electronics and clothing.
The marketing push is designed to “to make the patient believe that the health insurance company really cares about them and to reassure the customer that they get what they pay for,” Nora J. Rifon, a professor in the department of advertising, public relations and retailing at Michigan State University, told NYT.
But will it work? Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules this week, can a cool YouTube video and rewards points to retail outlets lift the notoriously low public opinion Americans have of insurers? Share your thoughts in the comments.
It seems that most Americans have made up their minds regarding how they perceive the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. A poll this spring for CNN revealed that 50% of Americans oppose the law, 43% support it and 7% have no opinion.
Even the members of the Supreme Court — set to release a landmark ruling on PPACA’s constitutionality on June 28 — cemented their views long ago, according to court watchers. "I think the justices probably came into the argument with their minds made up. They had hundreds of briefs and months to study them," Thomas Goldstein, publisher of closely watched SCOTUSblog.com and a prominent Washington attorney, told CNN.
Even among benefits professionals, opinions appear largely set, as a large share of practioners hope the law is overturned.
However set Americans and justices might be in their opinions, though, one big health care stakeholder is launching a PR campaign to change how it is viewed, and is leveraging the impending ruling to do so: the insurance industry.
According to a recent New York Times article, many large health insurance carriers — including Aetna, Cigna and Humana — have introduced “elaborate marketing campaigns to reposition themselves as consumer-friendly health care companies, not just insurance providers,” in the event that PPACA’s individual mandate compelling people to purchase insurance stands up to SCOTUS scrutiny.
Even if the mandate is found unconstitutional, insurers are moving forward with the campaigns, believing that either way the ruling will change the way health insurance is purchased going forward, the article notes. “More and more, the end consumer is who we need to focus on,” said Belinda Lang, the head of brand and consumer marketing at Aetna told the newspaper.
Among the revamped messaging is Cigna’s “Go You” campaign, and Humana’s member rewards program that offers members points for healthy behavior like losing weight or quitting smoking that can be redeemed for hotel reservations, electronics and clothing.
The marketing push is designed to “to make the patient believe that the health insurance company really cares about them and to reassure the customer that they get what they pay for,” Nora J. Rifon, a professor in the department of advertising, public relations and retailing at Michigan State University, told NYT.
But will it work? Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules this week, can a cool YouTube video and rewards points to retail outlets lift the notoriously low public opinion Americans have of insurers? Share your thoughts in the comments.
