Two-thirds (65 per cent) of plan members said they’d be willing to receive health-related information from the insurer managing their workplace benefits plan based on how they personally use their benefits, according to the 2019 Sanofi Canada health-care survey.
“People value personalization to help them move forward and understand what’s available to them that fits their needs,” said Paula Allen, vice-president of research and analytics at Morneau Shepell Ltd. and a survey advisory board member.
Read: Creating a thriving workplace with data, personalized employee benefits
“There will always be a small group of people who do not accept that even the most stringent confidentiality provisions are real. That cannot be a barrier to moving forward. A time may soon come when people will say, ‘Well, if you’re not going to use my data to my benefit, I don’t want you to have it at all.’”
Read: Hybrid of core coverage, personalized benefits touted as future of health plans
“It’s definitely encouraging that plan members are more comfortable than not with personalized communications,” said Ryan Weiss, vice-president of group customer market development at Great-West Life Assurance Co. “But we know why many sponsors say that they can’t afford even one person raising concerns about the use of their data, and that shuts things down. Certainly, we understand why people might be concerned, but it’s unfortunate because there is good opportunity there.”