While 1 in 5 consumers disenroll from their insurance every year, the payers whose enrollment steadily grows the most are those that invest in long-term health, according to a study published Feb. 24 in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers studied over 3 million primary enrollees and their dependents enrolled in Anthem plans between 2006 and 2018.
Ten insights:
1. Of the 1 in 5 members who unenroll from an insurer's health plan, about a third re-enroll within five years.
2. Over the 12-year period of the study, 80 percent unenrolled from their health plan at least once.
3. Thirty percent of participants enrolled in a plan more than once.
4. The average length of enrollment in a plan was four years, but not necessarily a continuous four years.
5. Only 25 percent of participants stayed with their current plan for
6. The turnover rate for individual health plan members (3.4 percent of members unenrolled per month) was slightly greater than that of group health plans (2.1 percent)
7. December saw the highest monthly turnover among both groups, rising to 13.8 percent for individual plans and 6.9 percent for group plans.
8. Three quarters of disenrollment was attributed to individual members changing insurers or employers, while the remaining disenrollment was attributed to employers changing health plan providers.
9. Results varied by age group, with adults under 25 seeing the highest turnover across markets.
10. The researchers claimed that payers can capitalize on these trends by prioritizing policies and coverage that supports members' long-term health. This included weighing the upfront costs of preventive care and screenings against the potential upside of retaining a member.