Less satisfaction with publicly-traded insurers
J.D. Power and Associates Reports:
BlueCross BlueShield and Privately Held Health Plan Enrollees Voice Greater Customer Satisfaction Compared with Members of Publicly Traded Companies
J. D. Power and Associates
March 15, 2007
Members of BlueCross BlueShield and privately held health plans tend to rate their overall service experience notably higher than enrollees of plans owned by publicly traded companies, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 National Health Insurance Plan Satisfaction Study released today.
The inaugural study identifies coverage and benefits, choice of doctors, hospitals and pharmacies, and information and communication as the most significant factors in driving member satisfaction. Additional factors examined in the study include approval processes, insurance statements, customer service and claims processing.
The study examines the member satisfaction performance of 49 large health plan companies in the four U.S. Census regions, with enrollments representing 80 percent of U.S. commercial health plan members. Criteria for inclusion were plans with approximately 750,000 members across all commercial products, excluding Medicare and Medicaid.
http://www.jdpower.com/press-releases/pressrelease.aspx?id=2007041
Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
Investor-owned, publicly-traded health insurance companies provide a lower level of “customer satisfaction” (this is a J. D. Power study) than do non-profit BlueCross BlueShield and other privately held companies.
Non-profit insurers are dedicated primarily to serving the interests of their beneficiaries. Publicly-traded insurers are mandated to place the interests of their passive investors first. This study demonstrates that this really does make a difference.
This study compared various private plans, differentiated by whether or not they were publicly traded. Now imagine an improved version of Medicare that would serve as a national health insurance program. Go back and look at the criteria used to determine customer satisfaction and imagine how a Medicare for All program would rate. It would be off the top of the charts.