Agents are anxiously awaiting and getting ready for a colossal event in the health insurance market: the entrance of the Senior Baby Boomers.
There’s good reason to look forward to this change if you’re a licensed health insurance agent or broker. Baby Boomers are set to reach Medicare eligibility in record numbers, redefining the category in their wake.
Top insurance producers are already positioning themselves to serve this rapidly expanding market, primarily through Internet-generated senior insurance leads.
Just how will Seniors and the aging Baby Boomer population affect the health insurance industry? Every insurance agent needs to consider four important facts about this incredible trend:
Fact #1: the Senior category is about to explode
Today, one out of every five Americans is a Senior. By 2050, that number will jump to about one in every four Americans.
The first Baby Boomers, individuals born in the two decades immediately after the end of World War II, will turn 65 in less than 16 months. They’re the leading edge of a huge wave, that will crest around 2025 — that’s when the biggest group of Boomers will begin entering Medicare.
To put that statistic another way: in about 16 years, we’ll be seeing a Baby Boomer become eligible for Medicare every eight seconds.
Fact #2: Baby Boom Seniors are better prepared
However, don’t make the mistake of thinking that today’s Seniors are like their predecessors. Today’s Seniors are more active, involved and prepared.
For example, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that more than 70% of the privately held wealth in the U.S. belongs to Seniors and Baby Boomers over the age of 50? That shouldn’t be a big surprise when one considers that they’ve used the past thirty years to build up their investments, savings and assets.
They’re also continuing to generate revenue. Whether from regular jobs, annuities, interest-generating investments, pensions or social security, Seniors today earn more than $2 trillion in yearly income.
This means that many of today’s Seniors and Baby Boomers are markedly better off than their predecessors.
Fact #3: Seniors are the fastest-growing segment online
In 2004, the Pew Research Center reported that only one out of every five Seniors over 65 was going online.
Today, more than half of all Seniors between 65 and 75 years old use the Internet. Researchers have also seen an increase in Internet usage among Seniors older than 75.
And guess what they’re looking for? Search engine statistics reveal that the most popular searches among Seniors are for Medicare, Medicaid and health insurance.
Many Seniors are now also shopping and buying online. They’re using the Internet to research their health insurance options and start their purchase.
Fact #4: Top producers are already focusing on Medicare supplement plans
Top producers are concentrating on Medicare supplement plans, which cover many of the health expenses that standard Medicare plans do not cover.
Medicare has provided a popular and valuable safety net for America's Seniors and retirees, but Medicare doesn't cover everything. Medical Supplement plans help Seniors avoid the added financial burdens of major medical expenses.
Unlike standard Medicare policies, "Med Supp" plans are all provided by private carriers, including some of the leading insurance carriers in the nation.
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