There are two months to go in the open enrollment period for Medicare policyholders. Medicare acquisition direct mail volumes for the last quarter of 2009 increased a strong 23% over the same quarter in 2008. This is a little more than we forecasted in a recent press release on Medicare enrollment.

Looking over what direct mail is being sent to consumers this year, most companies are using close derivations of what they sent last year. Some are using almost identical creative with only small changes to the text. This allows them to send full campaigns without the added cost of extensive design work.

Coventry Health Care Group, for example, is running a similar direct marketing campaign to last year. Letters seen in early 2009 had the text “1 – Be Healthy, 2 – Save Money, 3 – Be Independent” on the envelope, on a good-sized sidebar, and as icons for paragraph headers. These letters also included a “1-2-3 Comparison Quiz” so the consumer could think about how his or her plan measured up.

This year, Coventry is using much of the same creative, but they’ve moved things around to keep their direct mail fresh. A one-piece mailer we’ve seen features a “Medicare Plan Check List” that is similar to the quiz of last year. The mailing also repeats the 1-2-3 theme but it’s briefer and more straight-forward, better suited to the one-piece mailer format.

AARP/United Healthcare similarly uses the same letter as last year for its Medicare Complete product.

Aetna, as another example of this year’s campaigns, features lists and a worksheet in its Medicare letter. The direct mail campaign directs recipients to informational meetings to learn more about Medicare open enrollment.

Medicare’s regulated enrollment period does make testing new creative a challenge and a risk. With a limited amount of time to put mail out and approval required before a mail piece can be used, there are many constraints on testing a mail piece’s effectiveness. I imagine that’s why we see so many companies playing it safe with small modifications to last year’s direct mail campaigns.

Mintel Comperemedia forecasts more mail this quarter than what was sent out last year in the first quarter. I would anticipate roughly a 10% increase in Medicare acquisition mail, largely driven by the open enrollment solicitation effort and with modest changes to the creative used last year.

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