Eighty-four percent of Americans had some form of health-insurance coverage in 2004, according to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau. That equates to 245.3 million people in the United States who were potential targets for health-insurance promotions. Last year’s figure is up two million from 2003, meaning up to two million prospects may have slipped through the hands of promotional products distributors. And, with health-insurance companies such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina reporting an eye-opening 91 percent increase in total revenue from 2001 to 2005, according to the Triangle Business Journal, it is clear the insurance market is booming.
However, key concerns such as employer health insurance premiums increasing nearly three times the rate of inflation, according to the National Coalition on Health Care, have shed a negative light on insurance providers. Creative distributors can use this to their advantage by spinning promotional products as a way for insurance companies to reconnect with a public that is growing more and more disillusioned by the health-care industry.
