Nationwide Rolls Out Concierge Desk for VA Holders
June 29, 2017 by Warren S. Hersch
Variable annuity providers are given to touting guarantees and living benefits that help clients realize their retirement dreams. Generally not part of the package are services that can aid in navigating thorny issues during one’s golden years.
The latter is now on offer from Nationwide. The Columbus, Ohio-based carrier has debuted a package, Nationwide Concierge Care Services, a confidential, 24-hour service that can help Nationwide members address a range of issues — from determining Medicare eligibility to dealing with mundane legal matters.
“This concierge offering is not just about enhancing products,” says Eric Henderson, senior VP of Nationwide’s annuity and life insurance businesses. “The new services can actually help clients prepare for and live in retirement.”
The offering boasts a host of benefits. Nationwide can locate health care providers (including those offering elder care services), arrange treatments and tests and expedite appointments. The concierge desk can also facilitate resolution of health insurance claims and assist in transitioning to Medicare from health care plans offered in the private market.
Concierge service representatives can also explain complex medical conditions, including information respecting diagnoses, test results and available treatments. Rounding out the package, reps can assist with event-booking and travel (not necessarily medical-related) and provide access to a network of attorneys to advise on “minor legal questions.”
Nationwide is administering the program through Health Advocate Solutions, a provider of clinical and administrative services, as well as behavioral health and wellness programs, for more than 11,500 clients and 50 million individuals. In addition to the health advocacy services to be made available to Nationwide’s members, the company boasts other solutions (e.g., biometric screenings, telehealth services and disease management analytics).
When activating the service, Nationwide members are connected with a “personal health advocate” — a licensed registered nurse, benefits expert or trained clinical professional who assists callers on a dedicated basis until an issue is resolved or a file closed. The services on offer, Nationwide stresses, do not encompass recommendations for treatment or actual medical care. Health Advocate also will not share sensitive medical information about clients with Nationwide or its advisors.
When conducting research in early 2015, says Henderson, Nationwide found that many of its members (annuity contract owners) were interested in securing services, such as help with health challenges and aging parents, that often are part of one’s employment package, but then terminate at retirement. The concept also tested well as a competitive differentiator: 60% of consumers polled by Nationwide deemed the offering “highly relevant and unique;” and 82% of advisors say the service will help them serve clients “more holistically.”
And at no added cost. The concierge services are automatically available to some 25,000 holders of Nationwide’s commission-based variable annuity contracts, including Destination Navigator 2.0, Destination All American Gold 2.0, Destination Architect 2.0 and Destination Freedom+. The free package will eventually be extended to 30,000-plus members.
Why not charge for the services? Henderson says the cost to develop and rollout the bundled offerings was “not huge.” And so the carrier is prepared to absorb the expense — for now. Henderson does not rule out pricing a future iteration of the package, depending on how well the rollout is received.
He adds that Nationwide might eventually extend the offering to holders of other Nationwide products. Among those in its expanding portfolio: Monument Advisor, a flat-fee based VA and signature offering of Jefferson National, a now a wholly owned Nationwide business unit that the multiline carrier acquired in 2016. Boasting more than 400 funds, Monument Advisor is marketed through more than 4,000 fee-based advisors and holds $4.7 billion in assets.
For now, Nationwide is betting that the new service will be a competitive differentiator — and one that aligns well with the carrier’s brand.
“The new offering fits well with who we are as a mutual insurer,” says Henderson. “It helps to continue to differentiate Nationwide as a company that puts its members first. The new services reinforce this commitment.”
