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ConnectedHealth Reveals Platform's Open Enrollment Activity and Trends
[March 24, 2015]

ConnectedHealth Reveals Platform's Open Enrollment Activity and Trends


ConnectedHealth, the online benefits technology company that helps employees achieve better health and financial security, doubled its website traffic during this Obamacare open enrollment period. As a Web-based entity for the Federal government, ConnectedHealth also found that improvements to healthcare.gov made health plan enrollment easier for employees who qualified.

Additional findings include:

  • Mobile access is important: For the company's more mobile workforces (e.g., realtors), more than 30 percent of their applications were completed on phones or tablets, underscoring the expectations of consumers that shopping for health insurance should be as easy as purchasing an online retail product.
  • Procrastinators: While there was a surge of activity in the beginning of open enrollment, nearly a quarter of ConnectedHealth's call volume came in the last seven days of the open enrollment period.
  • Still want the personal touch: While primarily an online solution, many customers used ConnectedHealth's call center. Conversations, though, averaged 15 minutes, which is much shorter than they were in the past. Customers were more directed in their questions, and less confused about insurance or benefits shopping overall.

"The increase in individuals selecting and buying their own health care plans places greater importance on our company'smission to help them achieve health and financial security for their families," said ConnectedHealth President Joe Donlan. "Our investments in technology and licensed insurance agents had a great impact on helping consumers make more informed purchasing decisions."



ConnectedHealth also examined purchase patterns and found that the majority of qualified health plans purchased in 2014 were Bronze and Silver - consistent with 2013. In line with employer group coverage findings, individuals tended to keep their current type of plan instead of trading up or down in plans from the year prior.

When looking at insurance plan selection by gender, there were interesting differences among men and women, even in the same age cohort:


  • Men chose more Gold plans than Bronze and Silver plans, while women chose more Bronze plans than Silver or Gold plans.
  • Young men chose catastrophic plans - plans for people under age 30, which cover major unexpected medical costs - at three times the rate of young women.
  • Women, ages 30-34, chose Bronze plans at three times the rate of men the same age.
  • Men, ages 30-34, chose Platinum plans at twice the rate of women the same age.
  • Males, ages 35-54, were one and a half times more likely to choose Gold plans than were women the same age.
  • Men, ages 55 and above, were three times more likely to choose Gold plans than were women the same age, whereas women, ages 55 and above, were five times more likely to choose Platinum plans than were men the same age.

About ConnectedHealth

ConnectedHealth makes it easy for employees to shop for personalized insurance benefits online. Founded by the pioneers in consumer health care transparency, the company's award-winning e-commerce platform helps businesses control costs and supports their entire workforce in protecting their health and financial security. Learn how ConnectedHealth is reimagining the way employers deliver group and individual benefit strategies at www.ConnectedHealth.com or on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.


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