Orange-based Alignment Healthcare Inc. (Nasdaq: ALHC), which has built a sophisticated online platform to sell Medicare Advantage insurance plans to seniors, has found that certain things are best done in person.
As a result, it’s embarked on a strategy to open retail stores in cities such as El Paso, Fresno and Santa Clara.
“Face to face is important,” Dawn Maroney, president of health markets and chief executive of the company’s Health Plan, told the Business Journal. “A lot of people, no matter what age, like the retail experience.
“Online is important when you’re shopping, but when you’re making a decision on your choice or understanding the complexities or choosing a doctor, you want to walk in and have that physical human interaction. We want to be able to offer both.”
Its first opening in Orange County occurred Oct. 3 when it inaugurated a retail store at retirement community of Laguna Woods, where approximately 91% of its 17,644 residents are 60 years or older.
“The primary goal of our city is to make sure our residents have quality goods and services,” Laguna Woods Mayor Cynthia Conners said at the inauguration.
“We are so glad to welcome Alignment Healthcare which provides exactly that.
“I appreciate what’s been said about the difficulty of navigating healthcare as we get older.”
AI Focus
Alignment founder and CEO John Kao told attendees that he started the company 10 years ago after seeing the poor service given to his mother after she suffered a stroke.
He built a “tech-enabled” online centric platform to offer seniors customized plans that can include coverage for things like vision, dental and hearing exams.
It developed an artificial intelligence-driven “command center” called the Alignment Virtual Application. The platform, which is designed to scale, has more than 100,000 unique data signals per member that identify changing care needs in real time to provide care when and where seniors need it most.
It partners with tech-savvy firms, including an Oct. 3 announcement with Instacart to co-brand their products.
Alignment’s enrollment has increased to 112,200 members as of June 30 and sales are forecast to rise 24% to $1.8 billion this year. It’s publicly traded with a $1.4 billion market cap.
Kao has estimated there are 60 million seniors in the U.S., including about 25 million using Medicare Advantage plans.
In-Person Talks
The 3,300-square-foot Laguna Woods facility provides a venue for customers and potential clients to discuss their needs and concerns in person with Medicare experts. It also has a social element to it, with plenty of tables and televisions for hanging out.
“Our goal is to have local community resource centers for our members as well as prospects coming in,” Maroney said.
Also in attendance were California Assemblywoman Diane Dixon and OC Supervisor Katrina Foley.
A sign of the importance of the store is that both Maloney and Kao share an office at the facility, which employs 10.
“I personally come into this office because I love the feel of the environment,” Maloney said.
She noted that about 25,000 seniors live within a 5-mile radius.
“This is the perfect spot.”
