J.D. Power and Associates Reports: BlueCross BlueShield and Privately Held Health Plan Enrollees Voice Greater Customer Satisfaction Compared With Members of Publicly Traded Companies

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., March 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of BlueCross BlueShield and privately held health plans tend to rate their overall service experience notably higher than enrollees of plans owned by publicly traded companies, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 National Health Insurance Plan Satisfaction Study(SM) released today.

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The inaugural study identifies coverage and benefits, choice of doctors, hospitals and pharmacies, and information and communication as the most significant factors in driving member satisfaction. Additional factors examined in the study include approval processes, insurance statements, customer service and claims processing.

"Privately held and BlueCross BlueShield plans tend to outperform public and non-Blue plans because members rate them higher for provider choice, coverage and benefits, and because they are engaging members more effectively with health-related information and communications," said David Stefan, executive director of the healthcare practice at J.D. Power and Associates.

According to Stefan, there is an opportunity for health plans as a whole to focus more attention on improving all forms of communication with members -- especially those centered around health issues.

"Consumers are starting to get the message about preventative health and are increasingly valuing plans that provide a variety of preventive services and encouragement to use them. Consumers also value plans with excellent communications in all forms -- statements, Web sites and phone-based interactions," said Stefan.

According to the study, respondents in the West rate their plans lower overall and on all seven factors when compared with the three other U.S. Census regions examined. In particular, health plans in the West receive lowest scores for claims processing and information and communication.

Northeast Region

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care ranks highest in the Northeast region, receiving an overall satisfaction index score of 785 on a 1,000-point scale. Also performing well are Tufts Associated Health Plans (771), Highmark (762) and Anthem (759).

Member Satisfaction Index Ranking Northeast Region* (Based on a 1,000-point scale) Harvard Pilgrim Health Care 785 Tufts Associated Health Plans 771 Highmark 762 Anthem 759 Excellus BlueCross BlueShield 757 BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts 755 Northeast Region Average 746 Empire BlueCross BlueShield 743 Horizon 739 Group Health Incorporated (GHI) 737 United Healthcare 735 AETNA 733 CIGNA HealthCare 728 Oxford Health Plans 722

Included in the Northeast Region are: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

South Region

BlueCross and BlueShield of Florida (779) ranks highest in the South region. BlueCross and BlueShield of Alabama (773), BlueCross and BlueShield of North Carolina (761) and Anthem (757) respectively follow.

Member Satisfaction Index Ranking South Region* (Based on a 1,000-point scale) BlueCross and BlueShield of Florida 779 BlueCross and BlueShield of Alabama 773 BlueCross and BlueShield of North Carolina 761 Anthem 757 BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia 749 South Region Average 746 BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee 742 United Healthcare 741 CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield 740 AETNA 736 Kaiser Foundation Health Plan 735 CIGNA HealthCare 732 Humana 729 BlueCross and BlueShield of Texas 725

Included in the South Region are: Arkansas, Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington D.C. and West Virginia.

Midwest Region

BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota (771) ranks highest in the Midwest region, followed by BlueCross and BlueShield of Michigan (762), Wellmark (754), and BlueCross and BlueShield of Illinois (748), respectively.

Member Satisfaction Index Ranking Midwest Region* (Based on a 1,000-point scale) BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota 771 BlueCross BlueShield of Michigan 762 Wellmark 754 BlueCross and BlueShield of Illinois 748 BlueCross BlueShield of Missouri 740 Midwest Region Average 739 Medical Mutual of Ohio 738 AETNA 733 United Healthcare 732 CIGNA HealthCare 728 Humana 713 Anthem 712

Included in the Midwest Region are: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

West Region

Premera BlueCross (775) ranks highest in the West region. The Regence Group (754) ranks second, followed by BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona (746) and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (746) in a tie.

Member Satisfaction Index Ranking West Region* (Based on a 1,000-point scale) Premera Blue Cross 775 The Regence Group 754 BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona 746 Kaiser Foundation Health Plan 746 United Healthcare 729 West Region Average 726 Anthem 725 PacifiCare 723 CIGNA HealthCare 723 Blue Shield of California 709 Health Net 705 Blue Cross of California 699 AETNA 698

Included in the West Region are: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

The 2007 National Health Insurance Plan Satisfaction Study includes responses from 10,552 members of large commercial health plans. Members were surveyed online in October and November 2006. The study examines the member satisfaction performance of 49 large health plan companies in the four U.S. Census regions, with enrollments representing 80 percent of U.S. commercial health plan members. The study focuses on performance areas in which health plans can influence or control to improve the experiences of their members. Criteria for inclusion were plans with approximately 750,000 members across all commercial products, excluding Medicare and Medicaid.

For more information on the performance of national health insurance plans, visit the J.D. Power Consumer Center at http://www.jdpower.com/healthcare.

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies:

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2006 were $6.3 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/

Media Relations Contacts: Jeff Perlman Syvetril Perryman J.D. Power and Associates J.D. Power and Associates Westlake Village, Calif. Westlake Village, Calif. (805) 418-8976 (805) 418-8103 jeff.perlman@jdpa.com syvetril.perryman@jdpa.com John Tews J.D. Power and Associates Troy, Mich. (248) 312-4119 john.tews@jdpa.com

* NOTE: J.D. Power and Associates qualifies its sample for the 2007 National Health Insurance Plan Satisfaction Study through enrollment data from an independent source. Plans that do not report enrollment data by state are not included in the study. Plans whose commercial HMO, PPO and POS enrollment was less than 750,000 members were also not included in the sampling for the study.

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. David Stefan http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=58124