What You Should Know:
– The J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Commercial Member Health Plan Study, released, highlights a significant gap in customer satisfaction between different health insurance providers. While overall satisfaction has increased slightly, the difference between the top and bottom-ranked plans has widened significantly.
– The study, now in its 18th year, surveyed nearly 30,000 commercial health plan members across 22 regions. It measures satisfaction based on eight core dimensions, including access to care, cost, and trust.
Key Findings:
- Large Gap Emerges: Overall satisfaction with commercial health plans is 565, up 3 points from 2023. However, a concerning 79-point gap has emerged between the top and bottom-performing plans.
- Cost, Access, and Trust Drive Gap: The biggest gaps in customer experience are related to cost, access to care, and trust. Top-performing plans significantly outperform in these areas.
- Digital Experience Lags: The study found a universal challenge with digital customer experience across nearly all health plans. Satisfaction with digital tools is significantly lower than other service industries.
- Increasing Wait Times: The average wait time to see a specialist is now 22 days, and for an annual physical exam, it’s 15 days. These times are even longer for lower-performing plans.
Top-Performing Health Plans:
The study ranks health plans in 22 geographic regions. Here are the top performers:
- California: Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (630) (17th consecutive year)
- Maryland: Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (631) (3rd consecutive year)
- New York: Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan, Inc. (CDPHP) (659) (4th consecutive year)
- South Atlantic: Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (640) (13th consecutive year)
Industry Implications:
These findings highlight the significant impact of health insurers on the overall healthcare experience for Americans. The wide gap in satisfaction and the challenges with digital tools and access to care raise concerns about the quality of care provided by some plans.
J.D. Power’s Methodology:
The study, now in its 18th year, surveyed nearly 30,000 commercial health plan members across 22 regions. It measures satisfaction based on eight core dimensions, including access to care, cost, and trust.
“In many cases, employer-sponsored health insurance is consumers’ primary window into the healthcare system,” said Christopher Lis, managing director, global healthcare intelligence at J.D. Power. “Access to care, cost of care, chronic condition management—the central pillars of the consumer healthcare experience—are all heavily influenced by commercial health plans. That’s why it’s so concerning that J.D. Power sees such a large gap in overall performance between plans across everything from cost to digital tools to provider choice.”