CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield:
CHPMD (Medicaid)

Challenge

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Maryland’s Medicaid enrollment surged, climbing to approximately 1.7 million by mid-2024. This spike was driven by the federal continuous enrollment provision, which paused eligibility checks and allowed many individuals to maintain coverage regardless of changes in their status.

When the provision ended, the state resumed redeterminations, resulting in the disenrollment of ineligible members. For Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) like CareFirst Community Health Plan Maryland (CHPMD), this created a major challenge: growing market share with a shrinking pool of eligible members.

Solution

To meet this challenge, CareFirst CHPMD partnered with GKV Health to launch a comprehensive, omnichannel marketing campaign designed to increase visibility, engagement and enrollment.

Our strategy blended high-impact traditional media to boost awareness with data-driven digital tactics to generate inquiries and guide eligible individuals toward enrollment. The campaign was continuously optimized in real time — responding to shifts in eligibility concentration, market share and choice rates — ensuring that every marketing dollar was working as efficiently as possible.

At the center of the effort was the “With Care” brand platform. More than just a tagline, it reflected CareFirst’s deep commitment to providing compassionate, community-based care — a message that resonated powerfully in a post-pandemic environment where trust in healthcare was more important than ever. 

Results

Despite a statewide decline in Medicaid enrollment — from 1.7 million to about 1.5 million — CareFirst CHPMD achieved market share growth of 15% during the campaign period.

This outcome highlights the impact of a strategic, insight-driven approach: even in a challenging and rapidly changing landscape, targeted messaging and an adaptive media planning approach can drive measurable success.

Want to learn more? Discover how GKV Health launched a powerful, multilingual outreach campaign that helped over 1 million Marylanders successfully renew their Medicaid coverage.