Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey will be selling health insurance policies from a retail center that is located in a mall. It wasn’t too long ago that there was speculation that insurers would start opening up accessible retail stores in malls. Now, that is exactly what is starting to happen.
When people think about a shopping center, or a mall, they typically think of the food court, the big department stores, and the boutique type clothing stores that are located there. The mall isn’t usually the place that a person goes to if he or she wants to purchase health insurance. Or, at least, it wasn’t that way in the past.
There has been speculation that insurers would start opening up retail stores inside shopping malls. Since the recession, there are a lot of malls that have several vacant stores to fill. It would not be hard for an insurance company to find an empty spot to take over.
The other reason why it was thought that insurers would want to be in malls, next to the food courts and jewelry shops, is because it would be a good way to get some foot traffic. People who went to the mall to purchase a new outfit would end up walking past the insurance company retail presence. There is the potential that consumers could decide to walk in and see what the insurer could offer them.
Now, we are actually starting to see insurance companies setting up shop in places that would normally be reserved for retailers. For example, Aetna has partnered with Costco in order to offer special health insurance policies exclusively to Costco members. The plans can be purchased through the Costco website and will cost less than what Aetna will offer to consumers who come directly to Aetna for insurance.
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey is taking things one step further. It announced that it has signed a lease for a retail center in the East Gate Square Shopping Center. The store will be staffed by specially trained personnel that can help customers with their health insurance needs. This includes giving information about the different health plans that the insurer offers and directing consumers to resources for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
It will have private meeting rooms, and interactive work stations that people can use to learn about their benefits or to file claims. It will also have a children’s entertainment center. It isn’t a day care, but, it will keep children occupied while parents are trying to learn about their health insurance options.
Image by Yi Chen on Flickr