The new efforts include themed messages like a “Go You” campaign by Cigna, as well as loyalty and rewards programs that take a page directly from the marketing playbook of traditional retailers.

The campaigns represent a departure for insurers, who had previously directed their marketing to wholesale business accounts, not individual consumers. The shift in strategy may become necessary no matter what happens with the health care act, but it is fraught with challenges for an industry that is better known for causing consumer headaches than for curing them.

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