Posted at Simply stated health care

 

 

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Since this has a social media theme, I am including it on my business writing site.

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Health Insurance Companies Twitter Away

On hold at your health insurance company’s customer service?

Tweet them instead.

A recent article in American Medical News, reviews how some health plans are using Twitter.

Shrinking Numbers

The number of large health insurers has shrunk dramatically over the years. Principal Financial Group announced last fall it was pulling out of health insurance. Some of the large insurers stopped selling plans in certain states. The remaining large insurers include:

• Aetna
• CIGNA
• United HealthCare
• Wellpoint

There are several Blue Cross Blue Shield health plans and associations. Wellpoint is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

There are not a lot of health insurer options out there, which could be why social media is playing a bigger role.

Somewhat Social

Health insurers are not exactly leaping into the social media world. Their approach is a cautious one.

According to the article, there is no standard for the insurers’ use of social media, but the big insurers try to nip complaints in the bud. It’s brand protection that some non-insurers found out the hard way, is best not to ignore.

A quick search did not uncover a lot of accounts for the health insurers. Here are a few.

• twitter.com/AetnaGlobal – the international segment for global companies-could not find an account for Aetna.com
• twitter.com/CIGNA – almost 1,600 followers and 2,500 tweets
• twitter.com/HumanaHelp – customer service account – 110 tweets
• twitter.com/UnitedHealth – protected tweets
• twitter.com/uhcfeds – for federal employees – over 600 followers and almost 900 tweets

The American Medical News article lists some theme-specific accounts for the companies.

Here is a list (updated 12/2/2010) of insurance companies on Twitter. Most of the listed companies do not offer health insurance.

Privacy laws and the 140-character limit makes the accounts challenging for insurers. However, when it comes to branding, these companies understand the potential fallout.

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