ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Satisfaction is rising dramatically for U.S. health care on both the insurance side and the provider side, with Louisville-based Humana maintaining its position of leadership among insurers.
Health insurance satisfaction surges 4% to a record-high score of 76 (out of 100), with customer engagement points like call centers and websites improving 5% year over year, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) Insurance and Health Care Study 2022-2023. Meanwhile, hospitals improve 4%, reaching their highest score (74) since 2018.
“For health insurance, efficiencies are improving as the industry continues to embrace advanced technology, and policyholders are taking notice,” says Forrest Morgeson, Associate Professor of Marketing at Michigan State University and Director of Research Emeritus at the ACSI. “Despite rising costs, consumers are more impressed with both the quality and value of their health insurance, and the improvement extends across the entire policyholder experience, including mobile apps. On the provider side, hospitals benefit from gains in outpatient satisfaction, while nonhospital care surges 11% as COVID-19 era medical office restrictions, like mask mandates and limits on the number of people in one’s care circle, lift.”
Humana extends lead in health care industry
Health insurers experience widespread policyholder satisfaction gains, with all but one provider upping their ACSI score.
Humana remains the industry leader after improving 6% to 82. The group of smaller health insurers (up 8%) and UnitedHealth (up 4%) tie for second at 78, followed by Aetna, which increases 4% to 77.
Blue Cross Blue Shield and Centene are at 75, up 3% and 4%, respectively. Kaiser Permanente, the only provider that doesn’t improve, is stable at 73, followed by Cigna at 72.
Nonhospital care leaps to the top of the Index
The big story is that satisfaction with nonhospital care jumps 11% to 81. It now sits atop the Index — along with athletic shoes, full-service restaurants, household appliances, soft drinks, and televisions.
Satisfaction with hospitals rises too, driven by improved outpatient care, which climbs 5% to an ACSI score of 81. Emergency room care is up 2% to 67, but inpatient care falls 3% to 72.
The faltering inpatient care experience could be attributed to any number of reasons, but staffing shortages are hard to ignore. Job openings across the sector have reached an all-time high, while some 1,400 hospitals admitted to significant staffing shortages to the federal government last year, per American Hospital Association’s 2023 Health Care Workforce Scan.
USAA takes the lead among property and casualty insurers
Property and casualty insurance dips 1% to an ACSI score of 77.
USAA, which provides insurance to military-affiliated individuals and families, sets the performance bar high at 83 — the best score across all insurance industries.
State Farm, last year’s leader, is stable at 80, the same score as Allstate and American Family, which improve 3% and 1%, respectively. Travelers is not far behind, up 1% to 79.
The group of the group of smaller P&C insurers (down 1%) and four others tie at 77: Geico (unchanged), Liberty Mutual (down 3%), Nationwide (up 1%), and Progressive (up 1%). Farmers is not too far off with a steady mark of 75. ACSI newcomer Chubb debuts with a score of 67.
Interestingly, while satisfaction of mobile app users was higher than other customers, these policyholders had a higher complaint rate than those who connected with their providers through other methods.
AIG is the new leader among life insurers
Following three years of stability, the life insurance industry boosts satisfaction 3% to 80, with AIG gaining the upper hand by rising 4% to 82.
Last year’s leader New York Life slides 2% to a score of 81, tying State Farm, which improves 4% year over year. John Hancock is the industry’s biggest riser after climbing 7% to meet the group of smaller life insurers (up 3%) at 80.
Index newcomer Guardian Life and four other life insurers sit at 79: Lincoln Financial (up 3%), MetLife (down 1%), Nationwide (unchanged), and Prudential (up 1%). MassMutual sits in last place after dipping 1% to an ACSI score of 77.
According to policyholders, all aspects of their experience have improved. Mobile app quality leads the way at 85, followed by mobile app reliability (84), speed and efficiency of policy approval (83), and website satisfaction (83).
The ACSI Insurance and Health Care Study 2022-2023 is based on interviews with 12,849 customers, chosen at random and contacted via email between October 2022 and September 2023. Follow the ACSI on LinkedIn and Twitter at @theACSI.
