MEDICARE
Medicare MINORITY Advantage, MARKETS BRING the New Face CHALLENGES, of Medicare: OPPORTUNITIES By HOLLY ACKMAN
T
ake a glance at the makeup of today’s Medicare-eligible population and you will see a change is underway. The face of Medicare is taking on a new look as the number of ethnic and minority beneficiaries is on the rise, presenting promising new opportunities for the brokers and health plans that serve them. Older adults today are more diverse in race, ethnicity and culture than ever before, and beneficiaries from minority and ethnic groups now represent more than 20 percent of the total Medicare population. Although still a relatively small portion of the Medi26 | CALIFORNIA BROKER
care population as a whole, some minority communities within the Medicare population (take the Korean and Chinese groups, for instance) are growing at a faster rate than the general population of those 65 and older. And since immigrant communities tend to be younger, this demographic bubble is only just starting to emerge as people in these markets are aging in. As growth in these new markets begins to accelerate, there is potential for those of us serving the Medicare population in minority and multicultural communities to build new business - CalBrokerMag.com -
and provide valuable service and care to more seniors. Realizing this potential, though, does have its challenges. Issues such as language barriers, cultural differences and past experience with healthcare can impact an ethnic consumer’s decision to purchase healthcare coverage—and make it difficult to keep him once he does. For independent brokers, agents and Medicare Advantage plans, meeting these challenges presents an opportunity to work together to expand our customer bases while helping our mutual clients and members get the best possible care and coverage. MAY 2018