New videos for consumers to better understand how health insurance works

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) has released seven new videos in its popular “Stay Smart, Stay Healthy” series. These videos – designed to help health care consumers better understand how health insurance works, and what factors affect the costs they pay – are now available on YouTube and at www.StaySmartStayHealthy.com.

As America’s options for health benefits have grown and diversified through the years, so too have the plans and products Humana offers its customers. This expansion of HSAs, HMOs, voluntary benefits and consumer-driven health care has empowered consumers to tailor their health coverage to meet their needs and budgets. With all of these plans, however, it can sometimes be hard to discern what each option means, and which plan is right for whom.

To help consumers better understand their health care options, Humana launched a new site last fall – StaySmartStayHealthy.com, where consumers can watch simple, informative videos that answer questions such as “Why do some drugs cost more than others?”, “How can I get the most out of my health insurance?” and “Why is health care so expensive?”

Interest in the site encouraged Humana to produce more health care videos, offer Spanish translations and enable consumers to share the videos with their friends and family via e-mail, social networks and bookmarking services. The videos have also been made available on the StaySmartStayHealthy YouTube Channel, where they have ranked among the most-viewed educational content on YouTube and spurred users to leave comments applauding the videos’ creativity and uniqueness. The videos’ fun, simple format has led some users to describe them as “Health care for Dummies” and “the most creative videos on YouTube.”

“Humana has always been dedicated to consumer education,” said Ed Batchelor, Humana’s corporate director of Web and new media, “These videos are designed to give people the information they need to be confident in making choices about their health care, and this medium of online video helps us deliver that message in a clear, engaging way.”

The newest health care videos are now available and follow the site’s common theme of explaining what health care terms mean (i.e. COBRA), and how to choose the best plan (i.e. “How do I choose the health care plan that’s right for me?”). Batchelor expressed Humana’s hopes that the success of these videos will make the case for online media that engages and informs consumers. “This is just part of a larger dialogue we’re trying to stimulate with people,” he said. “The more they know, the more comfortable they’ll be in joining that dialogue.”

The seven new video titles include:

• What are voluntary benefits?
• How do I choose the health care plan that’s right for me?
• Can you change your health plan any time you want?
• What if your employer plan doesn’t offer health insurance?
• How can you get the most out of your health insurance?
• What is COBRA and how does it work?
• How can I save money on health care?