How bad is the customer experience from health plan providers? The same as what you get from an Internet service provider, according to the 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings. Put another way, health plan providers have the second-lowest rating across 19 industries.
The ratings are based on the customer experience of 246 companies across 19 industries based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers. The survey measures customer satisfaction based on:
- Functional – can customers do what they want to do;
- Accessible – ease of working with the company;
- Emotional – how customers feel about their interactions with the company.
It might sound pretty bad when the only industry doing worse is the TV service provider industry, but customer service from health plan providers has actually improved over the past three years from an average rating of 50.3 percent in 2011 to 54.8 percent this year. That said, there's plenty of room for more improvement.
Continue on to see how plan providers ranked.
1. TriCare
Ranking: 78/246
Experience rating: 71 percent
Change from 2012: +12
TriCare had the largest improvement with a 12-point jump. The insurer also earned top marks for functional and emotional experience.
2. Kaiser Permanente
Ranking: 123/246
Experience rating: 65 percent
Change from 2012: -3
Kaiser had the highest rating in the accessible category for the industry.
3. Coventry Health Care
Ranking: 182/246
Experience rating: 59 percent
Change from 2012: N/A
The Temkin Group noted that the No. 3 provider has a somewhat below average functional rating, yet strong accessible and emotional ratings.
Logos sourced from the plan provider's website.
4. Medicare
Ranking: 191/246
Experience rating: 58 percent
Change from 2012: +2
5. Anthem
Ranking: 203/246
Experience rating: 56 percent
Change from 2012: +8
Anthem had the second-highest improvement with an eight-point gain.
6. Aetna
Ranking: 213/246
Experience rating: 54 percent
Change from 2012: -1
7. United Healthcare
Ranking: 213/246
Experience rating: 54 percent
Change from 2012: -1
Logos sourced from the plan provider's website.
8. CIGNA 
Humana 
CareFirst 
11. Blue Shield of California 
12. Health Net 
13. Highmark (BCBS)
15. Empire (BCBS)
