Medicare annual enrollment period starts

Some of the organizations with Medicare open enrollment ads on TV include UnitedHealth; Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM); Aetna and Aetna’s Coventry Health Care unit; and HealthMarkets. 

Another organization, eHealth Inc. (Nasdaq:EHTH), the owner of the eHealthMedicare.com site, has working to get attention with a new study showing that the average consumer who compared Medicare drug plans had the potential to save $38 per month on prescription costs. The company says only 6 percent of Medicare enrollees had Medicare drug plans that save them the most possible money on prescription drug out-of-pocket costs.

In the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) public exchange market, marketers have been trying to tell consumers what the exchange system is, and assure consumers who had problems in the past that exchange enrollment systems now work.

In the Medicare product market, many marketing website designers and TV commercial producers seem to be sticking with slogans based on variations on the theme, “Enroll now.”

UnitedHealth and AARP tried to stand out from a pack with a commercial about an older man who has trouble lighting a campfire until “The Man With The Plan,” who talks a little like James Bond, gives him a light.

Humana depends on a man at a whiteboard who explains how a “Humana all-in-one plan” might be able to save viewers money.

The National Council on Aging and some other organizations are trying to use the start of the enrollment period to draw attention to an inflation procedure adjustment wrinkle that could lead to sharp increases in some enrollees Medicare Part B coverage costs.