Just 20% of Medicare Recipients 65+ Use Their Health Plan's Portal Regularly, HealthMine Survey

DALLAS, June 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sixty-five percent of Medicare health plan members aged 65+ say they are connected to their health plan through a member portal, but just 20% use their portal regularly. The data comes from a May 2017 HealthMine survey of 500 Medicare health consumers.

Seniors' connectivity to their plan's portal lags that of 26-to-64-year-old plan members. 89% of health plan members under 65 said they are connected to their health plan through a member portal in a February 2017 HealthMine survey.  Just 21% of respondents ages 26-64 said they use their plan's member portal regularly.

When respondents aged 65+ were asked, "What is the primary way you interact with your health plan today?" 31% replied digital—mobile app/text/email/website; 21% said regular postal mail; and 48% noted that their most utilized method is phone.     

However, internet use is rapidly growing among seniors.  According to a 2016 Pew Research Center survey analysis, "86% of adults 65 and older did not go online in 2000; today that figure has been cut in half."  The Pew Research Center data indicates that internet usage among those 65+ will eventually reach parity with younger generations as more Baby Boomers age into Medicare.

Key survey results are below:

Are you connected to your health plan online through a member portal?

Despite the lagging use of digital technology compared to younger insureds, twenty-three percent (23%) of 65+ respondents said they could find answers to most of their healthcare questions through their member portal, without requiring a phone call.  Thirty-one percent (31%) said they could find answers some of the time.

Is your member portal able to answer most of your questions online?

The survey also revealed that 84% of the Medicare subscribers responded "no" when asked, "Does your health plan offer incentives to manage health digitally via an online portal?" 

About the Survey
The HealthMine Medicare Plan Health Intelligence Survey queried 500 insured 65+ consumers who are enrolled in a Medicare program. The survey was fielded by Survey Sampling International (SSI) in May 2017. Data were collected via an opt-in panel. The margin of error is 4%. Survey Sampling International (SSI) has been the Worldwide Leader in Survey Sampling and Data Collection Solutions, across every mode, for 37 Years.

About HealthMine
HealthMine is a leading healthcare technology company that delivers Health Intelligence for plan members and plan sponsors. HealthMine's cloud-based Health Intelligence Solution facilitates better health outcomes and lowers healthcare costs by providing: 1) insight into health status and risk, 2) clinical guidance on necessary health actions, 3) personalized motivation to close gaps in care and 4) measurement of outcomes. The Health Intelligence Solution derives business value from all clinical and lifestyle health data including data from existing wellness programs. HealthMine has more than 1 million users and has saved health plan sponsors more than $100 million in healthcare costs. HealthMine is on the web at www.healthmine.com.

SOURCE HealthMine

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