Will we get the 60 year old gym rats?

You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me?” That is what I thought when Larry Levitt asked the question, “Will we get the 60 year old gym rats?” over at Wonkblog. He went on to make the point that the “health mix of ACA enrollment is much more important than the age mix”. His comment hit home since my wife and I turn 60 this year and probably qualify as gym rats. Her gym is riding horses while my gym is spread between riding, calisthenics, and running. Since I make most of the meals from scratch, we eat healthy. The last time we checked our cholesterol it was good. It is not surprising that we rarely go to the doctor. As I have said before, we are the perfect customer for an insurance company. Considering that we would pay two to three times what a millennial would pay for their health insurance on the exchange, the 60 year old gym rat is an important marketing segment to get right. What is amazing is that the health wonks have finally realized that they should not chase off their best customers if they want the exchanges to work! The Affordable Care Act supporters have arrogantly declared for some time that healthy people do not matter. It was a trade off the Affordable Care Act supporters were willing to make if they could extend health insurance to more people. Now they are getting nervous. They need a lot of people who are paying more than they are taking out for this scheme to work. They committed a massive marketing faux pas and are beginning to realize that people like me continue to look at health insurance as a financial decision that is not much different than the decisions we make for auto or home insurance. If you want us to buy then you must use a different marketing strategy than you would use for a person with a pre-existing condition. If you want the exchanges to work, you have to at least act like you are talking to me. They failed marketing 101. In our case the prices for health insurance on the exchanges tell us to opt out. If you want my business, show me the money!