At MPX, we believe in balancing industry best practices and our decades of experience with a relentless drive for improvement. One way we deliver value for our clients is by consolidating the disparate components of their enrollment packages to deliver operational efficiencies and cost savings. Despite the regular success we deliver through consolidation, it’s not always the right solution as we recently discovered for one of our clients.
Why is postal consolidation usually the right choice?
One of our ID card options is to use a letter-sized stock which allows for the welcome letter content and two integrated, die-cut identification cards on a single sheet. Using variable data these welcome letters can be printed on demand, duplex, and machine inserted into envelopes along with any other timely, relevant member communications documents.
Integrating identification cards with welcome kits can provide benefits to both the health plan and the member.
For the health plan, on demand printing offers deadline flexibility to the payer at the end of the enrollment period as they negotiate plans with providers. These negotiations have a direct impact on ID card content and regularly continue as the mail deadline approaches. On demand printing can not only accommodate any and all last minute changes, in-line printing and inserting integrated card sheets is also a faster and often more cost-effective method than traditional tipped on cards.
For members, integrating identification cards with welcome kits provides a complete package and can reduce confusion and unnecessary in-bound phone calls related to having received a welcome kit without ID cards or vice versa.
How postal consolidation can cost you | An abbreviated case study
Our client, a no-cost, Medicaid managed-care health plan provides members with access to thousands of doctors and specialists, pharmacy services and prescriptions, dental and vision care as well as transportation to medical appointments.
During open enrollment, our client was printing and mailing welcome kits that included:
- Welcome letter and integrated print-on-demand identification card
- Plan booklet
- Postcard
- Privacy letter
- Primary care physician enrollment form
- 3 other pages of marketing materials
Their welcome kit was quite large. Since it contained the plan booklet, it had to be mailed as a flat envelope and because it contained ID cards, the entire package had to be mailed with first class postage. With 425,000 welcome kit packages scheduled for distribution, the health plan was looking at a first-class postage cost of approximately $950,000.
At the outset of every project and regularly throughout, we carefully consider opportunities to enhance member experience, reduce operational strain and cut costs. Consolidating mailings will often accomplish all three. Although in this unique case we advised an augmented strategy to realize significant savings while ensuring a cohesive member experience and minimizing any significant increase in effort.
THE SOLUTION
Our account team quickly realized that deconstructing the package into two mail pieces would deliver significant costs savings without compromising the member experience.
Here’s how we did it:
The first package included everything but the benefits plan booklet. These items were printed on 8.5” x 11” stock, bi-folded and machine inserted into a 6 x 9 envelope. Thanks to the reduced size and weight, these items were mailed with First Class postage at a discounted rate of $0.42 each.
For the second package, the 8.5″x 11″ benefits plan booklet was given a cover letter before being machine inserted into a 9” x 12” envelope. This envelope was then mailed Standard Class at a discounted rate of $0.65 each.
THE RESULT
By splitting the mailing and using Standard Class for the plan booklet, MPX reduced postage costs by approximately $600,000 or nearly 60% of the original estimate. 90% of these savings were passed on to to the client, while the remaining 10% was used to pay for the additional mailing.
At MPX, we’re always seeking new opportunities to save our clients money and improve the user experience for their members. This is just one example of how our attention to detail and our dedication to treating our clients’ money like our own delivered significant value. Some people call this initiative “going above and beyond.” At MPX, it’s the expectation we have for ourselves in our daily pursuit of being a partner that health plans and TPAs can depend on.