Overview
As stakeholders seek to reduce costs, improve care, and broaden access, it’s imperative that carriers, agencies, and consultants focus on engaging healthcare consumers digitally. By harnessing the full power of digital tools, they can reach these digitally connected Boomers more fully. Our Medicare Digital Tools Study explores how seniors feel about shopping for Medicare plans online — and whether they find the amount of information online overwhelming.
Reduced Telehealth Usage in the IFP Space
In the year following the onset of the Covid pandemic, Telehealth usage in the IFP space plummeted from nearly six-in-ten to under four-in-ten only two years later (see chart). And it appears to be dipping even more now.
But It’s Expected to Bounce Back
Still, with more than a third of the IFP market using the technology for their care today, there is no imminent risk that utilization will drop to zero. In fact, basic demographics suggest that we should see the utilization rates on the upswing: in the last year, 48% of those surveyed, ages 19–39 (comprised mostly of Millennials), have used the technology, compared to just 26% of those 55 or older. Over the next several years, as those nearing Medicare enrollment age, the decline underway now will reverse into a resurgence of sorts.