Launching a new insurance company and Medicare Advantage plan

Background

Medicare Advantage is the place to be…if you are an insurance company. Over recent years, the number of insurance companies offering Medicare Advantage plans have increased, as well as the number of Medicare Advantage plans available to consumers. While most new entrants offer the typical and popular HMO or PPO-type plans, Lasso Healthcare Insurance Company chose a much different path.

Founded in 2018, Lasso Healthcare chose to offer a rare Medicare Advantage plan type called an MSA, or Medical Savings Account. MSAs were historically only offered by a small handful of carriers in just 3 local markets across the nation. Lasso Healthcare launched their MSA plan to 17 states for 2019 coverage.

With a) a fairly large geographic area to cover, b) an expansive and well-funded competitor pool, c) a relatively unknown product type, d) a distribution model focused mainly on local, independent insurance agents and brokers, and e) a limited marketing budget, how would Lasso Healthcare and its MSA be accepted in the market?

  • Marketing Strategy

  • Branding

  • Competitive Analysis

  • Graphic Design

  • Marketing Program & Organization Creation

  • Social Media Management

  • Content Strategy & Creation

  • Online Advertising

  • Traditional Advertising

  • Media Negotiation, Purchase & Placement

  • Production Coordination

  • Campaign Management

  • Marketing Budget Management

How We Helped

Over this multi-year project, Uptrend Marketing functioned as Lasso Healthcare’s Marketing team. We were able to draw from our 12 years of previous health insurance experience to quickly and effectively navigate the well-populated and heavily-regulated Medicare marketing landscape. As Lasso Healthcare quickly became the nation’s leading provider of MSA plans, covering 34 states plus Washington, D.C. in 2020, Uptrend Marketing became the nation’s leading MSA marketing firm.

We planned, created and implemented a wide range of initiatives, including:

  • Recruitment, training and sales/enrollment materials for the independent, local sales agents/brokers.
  • Paid advertising across search engines, social, direct mail and print. Print advertising included big-name agent industry publications like BenefitsPRO Magazine and consumer publications like Kiplinger’s, Harvard Magazine and Family RVing Magazine.
  • CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Lasso Healthcare’s government regulating body)-required documentation and materials for Medicare Advantage plans such as Summary of Benefits and Evidence of Coverage documents.
  • Sales/enrollment kits and materials for prospective Medicare-eligible consumers.
  • Welcome kits, member identification cards and health incentive program kits for enrolled plan members.
  • Content creation for and management of social media profiles.