Which carrier offers the best group health coverage?
Anthem/Blue Cross Blue Shield – winner
What Starbucks is to coffee, Anthem/BCBS is to group health care. So that might go a long way toward explaining the ubiquitous carrier's regulatory troubles. The only attention they seem to get from the mainstream press – or anywhere in California – is sensational headlines about outrageous rate increases or dramatic stories of denied claims.
But brokers don't believe the hype. For the third year in a row, Anthem/BCBS runs away with this category, setting the carrier standard for group health. Whether it's by default or through a genuine effort at superior service, Anthem still emerges as the clear market leader.
UnitedHealthcare – honorable mention
For another unsurprising result, UnitedHealthcare is still viewed as a leading provider of overall group health care. And this year, they've got the numbers to back 'em up. Though health care use climbed at a slower rate than usual this year in part due to a slumping economy reining in utilizations, United's most recent quarter earnings rose a whopping 13 percent. The group's enrollment hike of 5 percent compared to last year's second quarter contributed to an 8 percent jump in revenue from UnitedHealthCare.
|Which carrier offers the best consumer-driven health care products?
Colonial Life – winner
Get used to seeing this carrier. Kicking off their unprecedented best of show performance this year, Colonial Life picks up the consumer-driven carrier title with ease. And they're not content to sit on it. They're constantly tweaking their voluntary product portfolio to meet the ever-changing demands of an evolving marketplace – even as employers increasingly shift more benefits costs and decisions onto employees themselves.
More specifically, this year the company stepped up with a new group hospital confinement indemnity product this year. It took off with employers looking to cut costs. By redesigning their benefits package with a higher deductible major medical plan, employers could offer also employees a plan that helps protect them from the higher out-of-pocket costs in their major medical plan.
But most importantly, Colonial is a company that doesn't simply push products, they offer solutions.
Anthem/Blue Cross Blue Shield – honorable mention
While some carriers are finally jumping on the CDHC bandwagon, some carriers like Anthem have been on the ride for quite some time. They've got what brokers call a “first-class” health and wellness program, offering a wealth of health education and even special offers to consumers regarding some of the battles they've chosen to pick. In regards to obesity, the carrier continues its campaign against childhood obesity and even offers discounts to weight loss programs to its consumers. Though Anthem is still a frontrunner in the category, they're one notch down from the top spot they occupied last year.
|Which carrier offers the best vision coverage?
VSP – winner
What Michael Jordan is to basketball, VSP is to vision benefits.
For yet another year, VSP dominates this niche, offering what brokers see clearly as the best vision carrier in the business. It doesn't hurt that it boasts the nation's largest network by number of doctors and geography and has a strong online presence, as well. What's more, VSP has been vocal about proposed Congressional cuts to vision and dental plans. They were part of a coalition of dental and vision organizations that called on Congress earlier this year to substantially modify the proposed excise tax on health benefits—a provision the groups say would compel employers to eliminate or reduce coverage in order to dodge the tax.
Now there's some dedication.
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