|
The National Center for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment is compiling a database of promising practices related to benefits outreach and enrollment. We invite you to review these promising practices and cost-effective strategies that can strengthen your local or state efforts to increase access to benefits for seniors and younger adults with disabilities.
AREA OF FOCUS: OUTREACH AND CONNECTION, IDENTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE POPULATIONS
Importance of Targeting in Direct Mail Campaigns
This following is excerpted from a larger case study of
Connecticut's (CT) efforts to improve the enrollment of
Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs).
Their efforts highlight the importance of targeting in direct
mail campaigns. An outreach mailing to enrollees in CT's
pharmacy assistance program (ConnPACE) proved far more effective
in generating applications (and presumably enrollments)
than a more general prior mailing undertaken by AARP for
a similar purpose.
Who was the target audience?
Medicare beneficiaries potentially eligible for an MSP.
What did they do?
Connecticut’s Department of Social Services chose to conduct
targeted mailings, in partnership with AARP and local SHIP
programs, to enrollees in the ConnPACE program (the Connecticut
pharmacy assistance program). Pharmacy assistance beneficiaries
were chosen as a target audience because the eligibility
criterion for the pharmacy program was similar to that of
Connecticut's Medicare Savings Programs. Based on Connecticut's
expanded income limit for the Medicare Savings Programs,
a person eligible for the pharmacy benefit would also be
eligible for the Medicare Savings Programs, as long as the
asset guidelines were met. State officials began the mailings
after the Department of Social Services approved the removal
of the asset test for the Qualifying Individual (QI) program
(one of the MSPs).
The mailing packets included:
- a one-page, bilingual letter from AARP. The letter included
the SHIP toll-free number for applicants to call for more
information about the programs.
- a Medicare Savings Programs brochure that reflected
the elimination of the QI asset test
- a coded short form application
- a postage-paid envelope addressed to the Medicaid Agency
What was the result?
The mailing packet was sent to 30,000 ConnPACE recipients,
with 4,800 MSP applications received -- a 16% response rate.
The mailing to the state pharmacy assistance recipients
was significantly more successful than previous mailings
that were addressed to the general population -- generating
nearly 15 times more applications.
Department of Social Services officials concluded that
the pharmacy program recipients are a very receptive target
population for Medicare Savings Programs outreach; they
are, according to officials in the state, “very much on
the cusp financially, have some familiarity with benefit
programs, and are seeking ways to help their meet their
medical costs.” The agency indicated that there was a large
enrollment increase after the mailings indicating that many
persons who applied were approved for benefits. Officials
believed that the removal of the QI-1 asset test enabled
many persons to qualify; if applicants had excess resources
for the QMB or SLMB program, they could still qualify for
the QI benefits.
For more information:
K. Glaun, “Medicaid Programs To Assist Low Income Medicare
Beneficiaries: Working Paper on Medicare Savings Programs
in Connecticut.” Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
(2002). To view the full report, click here.
|
