SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Help is on the way for Californians facing increasingly complex decisions about health insurance. The California HealthCare Foundation has awarded a grant to The HSM Group, Ltd. to conduct a study that will help identify what segments of Californians need assistance in making better-informed health insurance decisions. At the conclusion of the project, recommendations will be made as to the types of resources that would best assist those segments.
“This project will identify which consumers in particular need timely, easy-to-use guidance on health insurance decisions,” said Marian Mulkey, program officer with the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF). “We’re looking for ways we might provide consumers with practical assistance in answering questions, such as whether or not to buy or enroll in coverage, whether to keep insurance in the face of rising premiums and/or declining benefits; which product best meets their individual needs; and how to use insurance and make tradeoffs among care, quality and cost.”
“Our research will also explore what tools are currently available and identify additional needs for resources to help consumers make the best possible decisions regarding their health insurance,” said Sheryl Bronkesh, president of The HSM Group, Ltd. “We’re consumers, too, and we understand how difficult it is to sort through the many different, and always-changing, options available in plan design and insurance products.”
Research for the project began in late March, and final recommendations will be made to the Foundation in August.
The HSM Group, Ltd. is a marketing research firm specializing in the health care industry. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, the firm pioneered the application of relationship marketing and customer loyalty principles in health care, and over the past 20 years has worked with managed care organizations, integrated delivery systems, pharmaceutical companies, medical device firms and health care associations nationwide. Visit http://www.hsmgroup.com/ for more information.
CHCF is an independent philanthropy committed to improving California’s health care delivery and financing systems, and is based in Oakland. Visit http://www.chcf.org/ for more information.
The HSM Group, Ltd.
CONTACT: Sheryl Bronkesh of The HSM Group, +1-480-947-8078,bronkesh@hsmgroup.com; or Greg Nelson of CHCF, +1-510-587-3157,gnelson@chcf.org
Web site: http://www.chcf.org/
Web site: http://www.hsmgroup.com/
