Forget what you know about health insurance — it's all changing

As I sat last week in the conference center at Durham's Sheraton Imperial Hotel, I had the opportunity to hear from the top executives at the five largest health insurance companies in North Carolina.

The five, representing for-profit and nonprofit companies, those offering coverage statewide and those with more restricted service areas, painted a picture of an industry in flux.

Of course, most of the focus has been on the impact of the Affordable Care Act on the health insurance industry, given the fact that the landmark legislation is generally regarded to be more about health insurance reform rather than just health care reform.

But the discussion last week indicated that these companies are responding to much broader shifts in the health care industry, as well as in the retail marketplace, as they try to reposition themselves with consumers and respond to a much broader effort to improve health care outcomes while containing costs.

In this week's Triad Business Journal, I take a look at three trends at work within the health insurance industry that are going to change how customers interact with insurance carriers and the presence that those companies have within the health care sector.

To boil it down, you should be prepared to do your own health insurance shopping in the future. Group plans, with employees selecting from two or three choices carved out by their HR departments, are not going away completely, but the individual marketplace is going to become a more prominent slice of the health insurance pie.

And prepare to interact with your health insurance company more broadly and more interactively. Health insurers are investing heavily in becoming more retail friendly and in approaching the health care of their customers in conjunction with the doctors who deliver that care, rather than just paying for claims.

Owen Covington covers health care, insurance, law/bankruptcy court, media/advertising, local government and sports business. Contact him at 336-370-2909.