High-performing plans reap significant increases in customer satisfaction while low-performing plans see sharp declines, according to the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Commercial Member Health Plan Study.
The annual study, now in its 18th year, was redesigned for 2024 and measures satisfaction among members of 147 health plans in 22 regions throughout the United States based on performance in eight core dimensions on a poor-to-perfect rating scale. J.D. Power, which offers consumer insights, advisory services, and data and analytics, surveyed 29,188 commercial health plan members from January through April. Questions focused on whether members were able to get services how and when they wanted; digital channels; ease of doing business, whether the plan helps to save time and money; people; coverage offerings; resolving problems or complaints; and trust.
“In many cases, employer-sponsored health insurance is consumers’ primary window into the health care system,” said Christopher Lis, managing director, global healthcare intelligence at J.D. Power, in the study announcement. “Access to care, cost of care, chronic condition management—the central pillars of the consumer health care 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.”
The survey found:
A large gap between top- and bottom-ranked health plans: Overall satisfaction with commercial health plans is 565, up three points from 2023. Beneath that improvement, however, a 79-point gap in customer satisfaction has emerged between top- and bottom-ranked health plans. While the highest-performing plans in the study see their overall satisfaction scores rise 20 points this year, those for the lowest-scoring performers have declined eight points.
Cost, access to care, and trust drive biggest gaps in member experience: The overall gaps in customer satisfaction between top- and bottom-performing health plans are largest in the dimensions of helping to save time and money (87 points); ability to get health services how/when I want (84); and trust (84).
Many insurers have portal problems: One universal challenge observed across nearly all health plans evaluated in the study is digital customer experience. The overall satisfaction score with the commercial health plan digital experience is just 565, which is significantly lower than for other service industry digital experiences, such as mortgage origination (730); direct banking (718); telehealth (698); and Medicare Advantage (652).
Increased wait times to see providers: The average wait time to see a specialist is now 22 days, and the average wait time to schedule an annual physical exam is 15 days. These wait times climb to 25 days and 18 days, respectively, among the lowest-performing health plans.