Reaching the Right Insurance Audiences: Trends & Targeting Tactics

Health insurance isn’t a niche market—it touches nearly everyone. As of mid-2024, about 92% of Americans had coverage, totaling over 300 million people. Still, nearly 25 million remain uninsured. During the most recent Open Enrollment period, Marketplace enrollment reached 24 million, a 13% increase year over year¹.

For health plans and agencies, these numbers highlight a growing, diverse audience and a clear challenge: reaching the right people in the right way.

It’s no longer just about who you’re targeting. It’s about how you connect with them. As consumer behavior shifts, the strategies we use to reach, engage, and convert insurance audiences must evolve as well.

Who Are We Really Trying to Reach?

Today’s insurance audiences are far from one-size-fits-all. Segmentation has grown more sophisticated, with brands aiming to connect with:

• Seniors choosing between Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare—more than 64 million Americans are currently enrolled in Medicare

• Cost-conscious young adults enrolling in ACA exchange plans

• Working parents seeking family coverage with mental health support

• Freelancers exploring digital-first plans —a growing segment that includes nearly 20 million independent workers across the U.S.

• Underserved populations with complex access needs

To reach them effectively, marketers need to go beyond demographics and understand the behaviors, purchase drivers, and media habits that influence decision-making.

Explore Four Trends Reshaping Health Insurance Targeting

1. AI-Powered Personalization Is Redefining Consumer Outreach

AI is transforming how insurers communicate, predict needs, and guide consumers through the enrollment journey. With machine learning and predictive analytics, marketers can tailor plan recommendations, outreach timing, and messaging based on behavior rather than demographics.

Broad open enrollment blasts are no longer sufficient. AI helps identify who is most likely to enroll, churn, or need follow-up, which makes campaigns more efficient and media spend more strategic. Insurers using AI personalization saw significantly higher engagement rates during the 2024–2025 Open Enrollment season.

In today’s environment, personalization is not optional—it is expected.

2. Value-Based Insurance Design (V-BID) Is Reshaping Segmentation Strategy

V-BID aligns out-of-pocket costs with the value of care, promoting the use of high-value services like preventive screenings and discouraging low-value treatments. It is not only a plan design model but also a powerful targeting strategy.

Instead of segmenting by broad risk groups, marketers can identify individuals who are likely to benefit from value-aligned services. This approach is especially relevant in Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and employer-sponsored plans.

Behavioral data, such as frequency of primary care visits or social determinants of health, can help build audience segments that align with V-BID strategies.

3. Virtual and In-Home Care Are Creating New Targeting Models

Telehealth, remote monitoring, and in-home care are now central to how many people receive care, particularly among aging populations and rural communities.

Consumers once considered digitally disengaged, such as tech-cautious seniors or those with limited mobility, are now actively engaging with care in virtual settings and expect flexible delivery options.

Understanding a consumer’s preferred care setting allows marketers to better align plan features and messaging with what matters most to that audience.

4. Zero-Waiting Period Policies Are Driving Urgency in Enrollment

Plans that offer immediate access to benefits like maternity, dental, or chronic care are becoming more attractive, particularly to high-intent consumers with time-sensitive needs.

Zero-waiting-period policies resonate with individuals experiencing life changes, job transitions, or urgent health concerns. Segments such as frequent urgent care users or specialist seekers are ideal candidates for messaging that highlights immediate benefit access.

The Health Insurance Audience Evolution

Today’s health insurance consumers are not just policyholders. They are digital-savvy individuals, caregivers, early retirees, freelance workers, and parents looking for coverage that matches their values, lifestyle, and care preferences.

To stay competitive, marketers must adopt predictive targeting, behavioral segmentation, and value-driven messaging to connect with modern insurance audiences more effectively.

How Causeway Solutions Helps

At Causeway Solutions, we help agencies and health plans connect with today’s complex insurance consumers through privacy-safe, HIPAA-aligned audience segments built for smarter campaign strategies.

Our insurance audience segments include:

• Likely Medicaid

• Likely Medicare

• Likely Medicare Advantage Plan

• Likely to Have Employer-Sponsored Insurance

• Likely to Purchase Insurance through Marketplace or ACA

• Likely to Purchase Supplemental Insurance

• Likely Uninsured

• Likely Dental Insurance

• Likely to Purchase Life Insurance

With these segments, you can:

• Reduce media waste by focusing on high-propensity shoppers

• Personalize messaging based on benefit themes that resonate with each audience

• Launch quickly with ready-to-activate segments across major platforms

Ready to See Counts in Your Market?

Whether you're planning open enrollment campaigns or building always-on retention strategies, Causeway’s insurance audiences help you put the right people at the center of your media plan.

Contact us at info@causewaysolutions.com or visit causewaysolutions.com to request a sample count or discuss a custom model.

¹ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (2025). 2025 Open Enrollment Report. Download PDF