Even as Aetna pulls back from the public exchange market, the carrier continues to beef up its digital delivery of health insurance and related information.

Even as they wind down their participation in the public health insurance e-commerce market, many big health carriers continue to build up their digital and mobile healthcare infrastructure.

A case in point is Aetna Inc. Aetna will leave the few remaining states where it had been selling Obamacare plans next year, making it one of the biggest health insurers to pull out of the health law.

Aetna expects to lose more than $200 million on individual health plans this year in the four states where it’s still selling Affordable Care Act plans online.

But even as Aetna pulls back from the public exchange market, the carrier continues to beef up its digital delivery of health insurance and related information. Today about 15 million of the company’s 19.5 million healthcare plan enrollees have access to a digital healthcare portal to access their benefits and related information, Aetna says.

But only about 12 million consumers, or about 2% of the U.S. population bought health insurance last year on Healthcare.gov and other public exchanges. What that means is that even if the public exchange goes away or is scaled back even further that won’t change the fact that consumers will still use the web more to buy healthcare and manage their benefits—a prime reason Aetna continues to add digital tools.

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The next big push is to make the portal’s features available for mobile users. “With mobile we’ve only begun to scratch the surface,” says Chris Riedl, Aetna executive director of product management. About 14.5 million consumers have downloaded Aetna’s main app, which enables users to search for a doctor, dentist, or a facility, such as an urgent care center or walk-in clinic. Users also can log into a section of the portal to view claims, coverage and benefits, personal health records and identification card information

Wearable devices are also part of the plan. In September, Aetna began collaborating with Apple Inc. on an initiative that targets Aetna’s biggest employer customers to distribute Apple watches to employees that sign up for their company’s health and wellness program. Aetna also says it is working with Apple to develop a series of iOS apps to enable Aetna employers and plan members to track various health and wellness initiatives. Aetna says it will make the new programs available to large employers, a process that began early this year.

Aetna is rolling out a similar program internally. The insurer says nearly 50,000 of its employees enrolled in its company wellness reimbursement program will be offered an Apple watch for free, enabling them to download and utilize the new health and wellness apps. Aetna says it will be the first major healthcare company to subsidize a significant portion of the cost of an Apple Watch as part of an employee wellness program. “We are using iPhone, iPad, and Apple watch to create simple, intuitive and personalized technology that will transform the health and wellness experience for our members,” says Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini.

Aetna also continues to add more digital capability to its pharmacy benefits with the addition of PillPack Inc. to its pharmacy distribution network. PillPack manages multiple prescription medications for customers by pre-sorting, packaging and delivering the drugs—all with a 24/7 pharmacy staff that can be contacted either online or via phone. Every two weeks, customers receive a personalized roll of pre-sorted medications, along with a recyclable dispenser and any other medications that cannot be placed into packets, like liquids and inhalers. Each shipment includes a medication label that explains what each pill is and how it should be taken.

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In addition to pre-sorting medications, PillPack coordinates refills and guarantees the shipment of all medications on time. Online tools allow customers to track their shipments, refills, and co-pays. Customers can e-mail or call a PillPack pharmacist any time to ask questions or clarify instructions.

In February, Aetna, which provides prescription benefits to 15.2 million Medicare and commercial plan members, added PillPack to its national network of preferred pharmacies. Members of Aetna’s Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plans and of stand-alone Part D prescription drug plans can use PillPack while paying Aetna’s preferred pricing for prescription drugs, Aetna says. Existing PillPack customers who are Aetna Medicare members will automatically receive these lower co-pays—in some cases $1 in some plans—as part of their Aetna benefits, the insurer says.

“We want our members to take the medications their doctors prescribe, and our goal is to make that as easy as possible,” says Aetna Medicare president Nancy Cocozza. “This is a customer-friendly, customer-focused service that we are delighted to bring to our members at no additional cost, as part of our preferred network for 2017.”

 

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