Beneficiaries Are Satisfied With Medicare Advantage Plans, Coverage

Medicare Advantage plans received generally positive satisfaction scores, with beneficiaries giving high ratings on trust, ease of doing business, and meeting product and coverage needs, according to a JD Power study.

The JD Power 2023 US Medicare Advantage Study reflects responses from almost 6,000 Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The study was conducted between January and June 2023.

The study assesses eight factors to measure member satisfaction with Medicare Advantage plans: level of trust, ability to get health services/when how a member wants, if the plan helps save time or money, product/coverage offerings, ease of doing business, staff, problem resolution, and digital channels.

On a 1,000-point scale, overall beneficiary satisfaction with Medicare Advantage plans was 652. On the new US Medicare Advantage Study index model, this rating falls in the good-to-great range.

Trust levels and problem resolution were correlated with beneficiaries’ decisions to renew their health plan. For example, satisfaction with trust increased by 353 points among those likely to renew their health plan compared to those unlikely to renew. Satisfaction with problem resolution increased by 351 points among beneficiaries likely to renew.

“JD Power research demonstrates that consumers are becoming more sophisticated about researching their healthcare options. Consumer-facing brand attributes like trust, reputation, reviews, and customer ratings have become key drivers of satisfaction and customer loyalty,” Christopher Lis, managing director of global healthcare intelligence at JD Power, said in the press release.

“Most Medicare Advantage plans are performing well on the basics, yet there are opportunities for improvement in the areas of ease of finding care, care coordination, and innovation around digital self-service.”

Medicare Advantage plans were missing the mark on facilitating beneficiary access to care and encouraging the use of digital tools, the study found. Only 31 percent of beneficiaries said their plan made it easy to find care, while 34 percent said they used two or more digital tools their plan offered.

Member satisfaction scores were 158 points higher when beneficiaries reported that it was easy to find care and 62 points higher when they used two or more digital tools.

Health plan ratings, information received directly from plans, and recommendations from other customers are the most effective sources of information about Medicare Advantage plans, the study said.

Regarding specific plans, SCAN Health Plan ranked the highest in beneficiary satisfaction in California, scoring 708. Humana placed second with a 692 and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan ranked third at 680.

In Florida, Humana received the highest score (670), followed by UnitedHealthcare (653) and Aetna (647). Excellus BlueCross BlueShield received the highest score in New York at 700, with Healthfirst (680) ranking second and Humana (651) ranking third.

UPMC For Life ranked the highest in Pennsylvania with a score of 709, followed by Highmark at 706 and Aetna at 670. In Texas, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas received the highest satisfaction score of 676, with Cigna ranking second with 668 and Humana ranking third with 648.