This July’s Deft Research 2010 Age-in Study highlights changing trends in retirement plans. Many of the 2259 age-ins we surveyed plan to continue working till age 70, as they try to maintain their lifestyle, while unemployed age-ins and those with health concerns are opting for early retirement at age 62, and a lifetime of smaller Social Security checks. Many past retirees have relied on private pensions and Social Security benefits based on high-paying jobs. Current Social Security retiree benefit levels reflect this pattern. But future benefit patterns will change, as more age-ins retire from lower paying jobs, or delay retirement.

A full 46% of 2010 Age-in survey respondents plan on taking, or are already taking early Social Security at age 62, a sharp increase from 2009.

Map by Deft Research, data from socialsecurity.gov October 2009 Beneficiary Report

Implications

Future Medicare-eligible consumers are more likely to be either early retirees on a very limited income, or workers who plan to continue working till age 70. While some late retirees will rely on commercial health insurance obtained through their employer, a growing class of working elderly will be in the market for individual coverage, and willing to pay for richer health care benefits, especially benefits that provide them with convenience. Leaner benefit plans will likely also grow in market share and be well received by modest income households. Richer physician and hospital benefits provided by PPOs, Plan N, and Plan F will continue to attract higher income consumers, but individual working consumers are likely to be active shoppers that demand value for their health insurance dollar

To discuss the THE AGE-IN STUDY 2010,
contact:
George Dippel at 262/697-1370
or gdippel@deftresearch.com

This is the fifth annual National Senior Loyalty Study, and with 4200 participants it is the largest study of its kind, tracking loyalty, switch intention, and market differentiation of health insurers using a sample of persons aged 65 or more. The respondents for this September 2010 study will be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, excluding those who will receive their health benefits through a military program.

The Loyalty study is part of Deft Research’s Senior Market Intelligence Service. Each year, clients of this service receive three full primary research reports illuminating consumer activity, loyalty, and perception among seniors and age-ins.

This study will provide national benchmark metrics for seniors’ loyalty to health plans and their intention to switch plans. Loyalty is explained in terms of consumer perceptions of relative performance and the identification of market differentiators that drive loyalty. The Loyalty study is national in scope and large enough to provide individual competitor profiles for larger MAPD, MedSupp & PDP insurers, plus directional metrics for smaller insurers.

In this study we show how loyalty is strongly correlated to customers’ intention to switch their insurer. The study reveals root causes of differences as well as best directions to pursue for improving customer loyalty and retention rate.

For More Information:
George Dippel, Vice President Client Services
262-697-1370

Richard Hamer, Principal
612-436-8318

This July’s 2010 Age-in Study added to our understanding of the savviness of leading boomers. We asked 2,259 63-64 year old leading boomers how much more they would be willing to pay for richer coverage of physician and hospital services.

The results are striking in that they show that this group of consumers has a canny sense of the value of health benefits.

The Age-in Study 2010’s sample is large enough to provide separate analyses for many states and zip code defined regions. Call George Dippel to find out if your service area qualifies. (George’s contact information is below.)

Thinking Ahead. The study provides an excellent opportunity for Medicare Advantage and Supplemental Medicare carriers to begin developing product strategies and to start thinking about their own custom market research in advance of the product development process for 2011. With each purchase either Rich Hamer or George Dippel will present the study to your team and discuss its implications.

To receive a FREE EXECUTIVE RESEARCH BRIEF please respond to gdippel@deftresearch.com with “Free ERB Please” in the subject line.

Market Segmentation
Respondents to the Age-in Study have been mapped to Nielsen-Claritas’ Prizm Lifestyle Segmentation system and other segmentation solutions.

This enables Deft Research to combine the Age-in Study with the wealth of information contained in Nielsen’s and others’ secondary data. The study’s results may then be used to develop custom segments, define mailing lists, and plan marketing channels.

George Dippel is Deft’s Vice President of Client Services.

For further inquiries or to discuss using THE AGE-IN STUDY 2010 with Nielsen or other solutions, contact George at 262/697-1370 or gdippel@deftresearch.com.

Deft Research’s 2010 Age-in Study shows various approaches in the quest to hold onto lifestyle in elder years.

Minneapolis, MN, July 26, 2010: Leading boomers (aged 63-64) want to continue working, but three times as many are unemployed today as were two years ago. They face high unemployment, unwanted early retirement, and early draws on Social Security, meaning less retirement income. This critical finding is from Deft Research’s just-released 2010 Age-in Study. Using a combination of population demographics and Deft’s primary research, this study shows how age 65 has now become irrelevant to boomers’ retirement plans. Instead, this population wants to maintain their lifestyles as long as possible, with an increasing need for earned income to make this possible.

This report shows changing trends in working that are Boomers’ response to the need to stretch financial resources over a longer period of time, as health status improves and life expectancy increases. The health system’s performance in providing wellness and chronic care management that allows older persons to work is important to this age group’s ability to live a desired lifestyle.

The Age-in study uses this backdrop to develop implications for the demand for various Medicare related insurance products.

For more information, please contact George Dippel at Deft Research, 262/697-1370, or contact George at gdippel@deftresearch.com.

About the Study:
The 2010 Age-in Study is part of Deft Research’s Senior Market Intelligence Service. Just this June, the study obtained information from 2,259 respondents, aged 63-64. This large sample enables results from some metro areas and most states to be compared or analyzed separately.

About Deft:
Deft Research, LLC is a market research firm specializing in highly reliable custom and syndicated research designed for those in the healthcare, insurance, and pharmaceutical industries. Deft produces actionable results that help clients make well informed business decisions.

How do I order this study?
Call: 612-436-8315
Fax: 612-436-8320
E-mail: gdippel@deftresearch.com

Deft Research has instituted processes for ensuring the quality and dependability of results coming out of our on-line surveys.

For its on-line studies, respondents are being recruited through two or more sampling firms. Two firms in particular have proven to be responsive and reliable partners, Survey Sampling International, and e-Rewards. By using more than one research panel, we expect to achieve a highly representative sample base that significantly reduces sources of bias. Having more than one sample vendor will also allow us to directly compare and evaluate the performance of each sample source.

Deft seeks research partners with broad respondent recruiting methods that include using both on-line and off-line methods, such as email and direct mail. We look for firms whose panel members are continuously audited for participation rates and response consistency. We want panel membership to be limited by time and participation levels. One benchmark is to look for panels where members participate in about 5 surveys per year.

We also are asking panel partners to participate in Imperium Category Exclusion (ICE™), the first broad-based category exclusion program for the market research industry. The ICE collaboration is open to all research sample providers and collectively evaluates over 50% of the world’s online research sample. The goal of ICE is to identify cross-panel respondent participation, and verify panel member demographic information.

In addition to traditional panels, we are taking advantage of new on-line sampling techniques. These are methods that recruit survey respondents who are not part of a traditional panel. Potential survey takers are recruited from a variety of on-line sources. Research companies capture information about people and also ask a few screening questions which they use to instantly develop an individual profile. The respondent is then invited to complete a specific survey where they are likely to meet the qualifying criteria. Researchers use an individual’s digital fingerprint (machine identifier) to keep track of which surveys they have participated in, even though they have not joined a traditional panel.

Having taken these steps, Deft is assuring respondents are recruited from a much wider variety of sources, resulting in a more diverse, representative sample. Using these methods, many more non-traditional survey takers are recruited, which makes the respondent pool more robust and representative. Respondents are also able to participate in surveys easier, with less work for them. This reduces respondent fatigue and allows respondents to engage in survey taking at a deeper, more engaged level. We hope this leads to respondents providing more complete answers and completed surveys. So far, the relative ease of recruiting respondents with the new approaches has resulted in far more completes with fewer invitations. Studies can be completed faster, using a more representative sample, and with far less built-in bias from refusals, duplicate respondents, tired respondents, or serial survey-takers.