I'm the kind of person who always selects "0" for the operator when calling businesses because I prefer speaking with a human being instead of a machine. So, of course, I would rather have a one-on-one conversation with a person to discuss the complex topic of health insurance, especially if I was purchasing an individual health plan and, therefore, lacked access to the knowledge and expertise of my employer's HR rep.  

If, as an individual health plan subscriber, I had the choice of, say, calling a toll-free number to hopefully speak to a person (after first enduring monotonous computer messages) or walking into a brick-and-mortar store where I would definitely speak with a person, I would always choose the store.

Although that's just my personal opinion, there will soon be some 35 million new health plan consumers, most of whom will be buying individual plans, entering the healthcare system, and I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that a good portion of them would agree with me.

As I wrote in last week's column, recent research conducted by Stonegate Advisors reveals that health plans are focusing on shifting from a wholesale to a retail business model. I would be a bit more specific and recommend that insurers consider the pros and cons of opening retail health stores.

Some health insurance companies have already taken steps toward that goal. Highmark recently announced it is opening its eighth retail store in Pennsylvania. Matt Fidler, Highmark's vice president of retail marketing, says the company realizes it must go out into the community. "We have to start engaging folks where they go out to dinner, and where they go shopping, and where they do the social things that we do and not necessarily force folks to come across our traditional distribution channels," he says. "Especially as we get into reform and as we think more and more individuals will have a lot more choice and a lot more questions."

HealthPlan Headquarters opened a store in the Baltimore area earlier this year. The store provides self-service kiosks, one-on-one consultations with insurance specialists, as well as seminars on health and well-being, healthcare reform, and Medicare. "People need a place where they can go to find help without feeling insecure about asking the questions they need answered," says Suzanne Thompson, founder and president of HPHQ.

Another insurer that jumped on the retail store idea is Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, which opened a 5,000-square-foot center in Tampa that allows consumers to buy health insurance with face-to-face sales help. That center is the third Florida Blue store after stores in Jacksonville and Pembroke Pines that already have served more than 30,000 people.

Based on these examples, some health plans obviously consider retail stores worth the investment. Maybe as insurers get to know their new customer base in the next few years, we'll be seeing retail health insurance stores in strip malls and shopping centers. Maybe they'll even be as commonplace or, dare I say, ubiquitous as grocery stores or even fast food restaurants. Now that would be quite a feat. - Dina