Jun 13, 2024
Customer Satisfaction Soars for Top Health Plans, Plummets for the Worst
J.D. Power Study Reveals 79-Point Gap in Member Satisfaction, Highlights Key Areas for Improvement
For employees enrolled in employer-sponsored commercial health insurance plans, the quality of their overall healthcare experience is largely dependent on the contracted insurers. The 2024 J.D. Power U.S. Commercial Member Health Plan Study provides crucial insights into customer satisfaction among 29,000 members of 147 health plans across 22 regions in the U.S. Here’s a summary of the key findings and what you need to know to help your clients navigate the health insurance landscape more effectively.
Significant Trends Revealed
Members were asked to rate plans on eight areas, including the accessibility of health services, quality of online services, ease of doing business, cost and efficiency, customer service, coverage options, problem resolution, and trustworthiness.
Members’ overall satisfaction with their commercial health plans improved by 3 points from last year, now at 565 on a 1,000-point scale. There is a notable gap of 79 points in customer satisfaction separating the top-performing health plan from the bottom-ranked plan. Top-ranked insurers are significantly outperforming on cost, access to care and trust.
- While the highest-performing plans in the study saw their overall satisfaction scores rise 20 points this year, those for the lowest-scoring performers declined 8 points.
- Access to Care and Trust show the largest satisfaction gaps between top and bottom performers.
- Helping to save time and money (87-point gap)
- Trust, Ability to get health services how/when I want (84-point gap)
- Digital Experience: Overall satisfaction with online digital services is 565, significantly lower compared to other industries, such as mortgage origination (730); direct banking (718); telehealth (698); and Medicare Advantage (652).
- Wait Times: Average wait times are increasing, particularly among the lowest-performing plans:
- Specialists: 22 days on average; 25 days for lowest performers
- Annual Physical Exams: 15 days on average; 18 days for lowest performers
Christopher Lis, managing director, global healthcare intelligence at J.D. Power noted, “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.”
Actionable Insights for Brokers
Clients depend on your informed guidance to navigate the intricacies of health plans. The J.D. Power study results offer valuable insights to steer your clients toward plans known for excellent service, reliability, and overall satisfaction.
Four ways to incorporate J.D. Power findings into your client proposals:
- Highlight Top Performers: Explore top carriers in the client’s region.
- Focus on Digital Experience: Steer clients towards plans with better digital tools, as this is a critical pain point.
- Address Wait Times: Help clients understand the implications of wait times for specialists and annual exams, and guide them towards plans that manage these efficiently.
- Build Trust: Recommend plans with high trust ratings, as this significantly impacts overall satisfaction.
Dig deeper: 2024 J.D. Power U.S. Commercial Member Health Plan Study
Contact your Amwins Connect Regional Sales Representative for support.
