Dive Brief:
- Members’ overall satisfaction with their commercial health plans fell 13 points year over year, according to a new study by J.D. Power.
- The decline was driven by dissatisfaction with customer service, which fell by 33 points. But beneficiaries were also unhappy with coverage and benefits, which declined by 20 points; provider choice, which fell by 16 points; and information and communication, which also dropped by 16 points.
- Satisfaction was particularly low among members of Generation Y (born between 1977 and 1994) and Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2004). Sicker members also reported they were less likely to receive care coordination services from their health plans.
Dive Insight:
The survey, based on responses from more than 32,000 members and conducted earlier this year, suggests health plans are struggling to engage and communicate with members, especially the ones who need the most support.
Only 36% of respondents who rated their health as “poor/fair” said their plan helped coordinate care, while 43% of those in “very good/excellent” health said their insurer had helped with care coordination. Seventeen percent of beneficiaries in “poor/fair” health were assigned a case manager.
Meanwhile, the survey found relatively few members were using digital health products. Among the sickest patients, 18% used online health assessments and only 8% had used chronic disease management tools. Just 6% had used remote patient monitoring.
“The transition to value-based care is predicated on the idea that payors and providers can drive better outcomes at a lower cost by improving patient engagement, yet many commercial health plans are having challenges getting the right information and support to patients when and where they need it,” Christopher Lis, managing director of global healthcare intelligence at J.D. Power, said in a statement.
Newer health plan members are also less happy with their plans, which the survey attributes to poor communication and support when onboarding. Average Net Promoter Scores for new health plan members was six, while the average for established members was 25.
Beneficiaries aren’t the only group dissatisfied with their health plans. A report by the Leapfrog Group published in January found employers rated their plans with C grades when assessing their ability to provide high-quality healthcare. Their ratings had also declined compared with previous years even as employers’ healthcare costs are on the rise.
