Below C-level: Employers rate the quality of health plans
Asked to grade their health plans overall from A to F, employers graded BCBS the highest. How did the others fare?
As poll after poll reveals, Americans are mostly still happy with their employer-provided insurance (unless they have high deductibles). A new study endeavors to answer a somewhat less addressed question: How happy are employers with their health plans?
Short answer: Not very.
In June 2020, independent national health care watchdog The Leapfrog Group conducted a survey of 174 employers representing an estimated 4 million insured. The survey asked these employers to identify which health plan or plans they contracted with, and to rate those plans on four criteria:
- Responsiveness of the health plan to employer concerns;
- Transparency in helping employers and employees choose the best providers;
- Payment reform initiatives that incentivize excellence in the market; and
- Value strategies driven by health plans
At 71%, Cigna rated the highest for responsiveness to employer priorities. Aetna followed at 63%, while United Healthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield tied at 52%. Cigna and Aetna also led the pack at putting employer needs above the contracted provider needs, but only at 38% each. BCBS rated 23%, with UHC bringing up the rear at 14%.
Employer satisfaction takes a bit of a dip when it comes to transparency. Overall, 56% of employers said their plans made it easy to get usable data, while 43% said their plans provided employees with information on quality. Only 29% were satisfied with their plan’s transparency in comparing the quality of hospital systems used by their employees. Cigna led the pack for usable data at 67% and giving employees information on quality at 54%. Aetna took the lead at transparency with hospital systems, but only at 31%, with Cigna at 29%.
About a quarter of employer respondents reported using alternative payment models within their health plans, and an equal amount reported being satisfied with their health plans’ use of APMs. Employers were most satisfied with Aetna’s use of APMs, followed by Cigna at 25%, UHC at 19% and BCBS at 17%.
Only a little over half of the employers surveyed were satisfied with their health plans helping to reduce unnecessary costs. UHC rated the lowest on this element at 43%. Cigna rated the highest at 58%, followed by Aetna at 50% and BCBS at 47%. Cigna also rated the highest, at 79%, for caring about quality, with UHC scoring the lowest at 52%.
Asked to grade their health plans overall from A to F, employers graded BCBS the highest at 2.56, with Cigna not far behind.
“The survey should serve as a wake-up call to health plans,” said Leah Binder, President & CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Employers are not convinced they are doing all they can to improve quality and cost-effectiveness. Health plans need to be more responsive to employer demands for improvements in health care.”
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