Service Experience Outweighs Cost in Customer Satisfaction for Healthcare: J.D. Power

Employers are willing to put up with higher premiums for their employee health insurance plans as long as the service experience is good, a study from J.D. Power and Associates finds.

The Westlake Village, Calif.-based research firm surveyed 4,800 employers in February and March, based on their experiences with insurers including Aetna, CIGNA, Humana, Kaiser, UnitedHealthcare, WellPoint/Anthem and other regional plans.

The study measured account servicing; product offering/product design; problem resolution; and cost/cost management. Seventy-nine percent of those surveyed report a problem or issue with their health insurance carrier during the past 12 months. Overall satisfaction was low, averaging 611 on a 1,000-point scale. CIGNA, Kaiser and other regional health plans were bright spots in satisfaction.

"Clearly, there is plenty of ground to be gained in terms of improving the employer experience," Rick Millard, senior director of the healthcare practice at J.D. Power and Associates, says in a statement. "Employers aren't just looking for cost management. As in similar industries with low satisfaction levels, cost diminishes in importance when other aspects of the service experience are improved — which could have a huge impact, given how difficult it has been for health plans to contain costs."

J.D. Power’s Jeremy Bowler, senior director of its insurance practice, made a similar assertion about P&C carriers at last year’s Insurance & Technology Executive Summit. Bowler noted that nearly half of customers reporting high levels of satisfaction will not switch their company for any price.

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio