Gig platforms drive loyalty and revenue with healthcare solutions for independent workers
People and WorkArticleAugust 26, 2024
When a ride-share driver comes home, or a creative services freelancer logs off at the end of a long day, they likely don’t want to spend time navigating complex, expensive health insurance policy information. But finding, accessing and paying for healthcare coverage are consistent pain points for independent workers.
That’s why gig platforms that offer a fast, easy way for their workforce to understand and purchase affordable healthcare solutions can relieve some of that burden — and drive revenue and retention in the process.
Overcoming challenges to embedding insurance solutions on gig platforms
However, providing and embedding access to health insurance solutions on gig platforms can be a challenging task to execute successfully.
Farah Rehman, Head of Customer, Strategy and Marketing for Life, Accident and Health at Zurich North America, hosted a discussion recently on overcoming those challenges and maximizing platform retention and revenue through healthcare solutions at the Marketplace Risk Management Conference in San Francisco.
In the discussion, Garrett Johnston, Senior Vice President at Newfront, a tech-driven insurance brokerage firm based in San Francisco, summarized some of the hurdles that platforms face in monetizing and embedding insurance products into the business. “Large platforms recognize they have a huge user base, but an embedded insurance play works best when you have a captured audience only working on one platform,” he explained, adding that because most gig workers are jumping from one app to the next, user adoption becomes a big challenge.
According to David Pickerell, CEO of GigSafe, a San Francisco-based workforce management solution for businesses that engage independent contractors, the multi-app trend began during the Covid-19 pandemic, which he said forced a behavior change. Gig workers who previously worked for one platform now often work for three. “Independent workers now can find more work on more platforms, and the number of options that they have is just continuing to grow.”
That’s why building worker-centric tools and helping people manage work across multiple apps can help platforms support their users. “Platforms need to realize that people have a world of opportunity, so they need to win on offering a good price for work and a good experience,” said Pickerell.
Enhancing worker loyalty and retention with comprehensive healthcare benefits
Demonstrating care for workers through perks and benefits also is key to supporting users, according to Daniel Gerow, General Manager at GigSafe. And delivering healthcare benefits is a prime opportunity to create goodwill and positive impressions.
In a 2023 Zurich research study, independent contractors cited healthcare benefits as one of the biggest pain points associated with gig work, with high annual deductibles and the difficulty of navigating the healthcare exchanges highlighted as major stressors.
As Johnston noted, “Independent workers are often stuck with a deductible that is double or triple the deductible of other plans.” But he said that insurance products can create a solution and help ease a societal pain.
Gerow cited Zurich’s collaboration with Hooray Health, a Dallas-based provider of innovative healthcare solutions, as a successful example. The collaboration offers tailored insurance solutions specifically designed for the individual worker on gig platforms. It also provides dedicated customer support and educational resources to ensure workers have the information they need to make informed decisions about their supplemental healthcare coverage.
“Creative offerings like the Hooray Health solution meet a need for the supply side. If you can structure your suite of perks and thinking and business model around answering needs, you’ll see your retention rates for the supply side go through the roof,” Gerow said. “At the end of the day, business economics are based off maintaining your supply side. We’re seeing larger players recognizing and empathizing with these facts and coming up with programs and systems by which their supply side can win.”
He added that platforms can generate positive sentiment and drive retention simply by offering thoughtful perks and benefits, even if they don’t see high take-up rates initially. “Just by doing it, you’re demonstrating that you care about your workers and that you want to provide opportunities that can make their lives a little bit better and a little more secure,” Gerow said.
Maximizing revenue and engagement through aligned incentives and healthcare benefits
In addition to the supply-side impact, properly structuring incentives can have a have a positive revenue impact, too, especially as platforms seek to diversify their revenue streams.
According to Johnston, as platforms look for ways to manage insurance costs and opportunities to monetize insurance in the platform transaction, aligning incentives is key to good outcomes. “If you can structure programs that align incentives to create a revenue stream and solve a pain point on the customer side, it’s a win-win,” he said.
Gerow agreed that taking a thoughtful approach to structuring programs is critical. He cited telemedicine benefits as an example of a potentially valuable benefit for drivers who are constantly on their phones and would appreciate saving a trip to a healthcare provider.
Platforms can experiment with how to embed the benefit, communicate it to users and solicit their feedback. Often, even if a driver doesn’t subscribe, the thought does count. “It’s a way for users to see that you’re thinking about them, and not just making money off their backs,” Gerow said.
More to explore
Access to healthcare for gig workers | Zurich Insurance (zurichna.com)
Affordable healthcare for the Gig Economy | Zurich Insurance (zurichna.com)
Gig Insurance: Workers & Platform Companies | Zurich Insurance (zurichna.com)