In 2018, Medicare enrollment at Highmark was slipping. Not a little, but enough to raise alarms. Customer churn was up. Retention was down to 85 percent. Every new member cost 800 dollars to acquire.

The member portal was dated. Agents were stuck using static PDFs and spreadsheets to explain complex plans over the phone. Meanwhile, competitors had mobile-first tools and call centers that actually remembered who you were.

Instead of looking at this as a retention issue, I reframed it as a product issue. We weren’t failing to sell. We were failing to design for the people who mattered.

I started with customer interviews, CAHPS survey analysis, and hands-on sessions with agents. The pain was everywhere—duplicate data entry, no continuity between calls, unclear plan comparisons, and poor visibility into benefits.

We built a centralized sales platform for agents that finally gave them leverage.

It tracked leads, surfaced the right plans, offered real-time quotes, and handled enrollment in one flow. We also introduced callback continuity so a patient didn’t have to reintroduce themselves five times.

On the member side, we rebuilt the portal, gave users real-time access to claims, benefits, and provider directories, and added tools for self-service navigation.

The results changed our trajectory. New member acquisition jumped thirty percent. Cost per acquisition dropped to 680 dollars, saving thirty-eight million.

Retention hit ninety-seven percent, far beyond industry benchmarks.

JD Power named Highmark the number one Medicare Advantage plan that year.

Two of our plans earned five-star CMS ratings for the first time. This wasn’t just about enrollment. We rebuilt trust through better tools.

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