Digital member experience, app use low among health plans

Digital member experience with both commercial health plans and Medicare Advantage plans is middling, mostly due to a poor digital experience riddled with complexity, according to a new J.D. Power survey.

Specifically, digital experience with commercial health plans comes in at a 653 out of 1,000, while satisfaction with consumer apps for Medicare Advantage plans is a 597.

The digital healthcare experience has become essential as payers and providers alike adjust to the industry's digital transformation. Private and public health plans both usually offer consumer-facing apps to let beneficiaries find information and complete key administrative tasks more seamlessly.

But this latest survey from J.D. Power, based on responses from more than 6,000 health plan members at the largest commercial and Medicare Advantage payers in the country, shows digital apps aren't accomplishing their goals.

Generally speaking, consumer satisfaction with these tools is middling and lags other service sectors. While consumers give healthcare payer apps ratings between 600 and 650, they rate the digital offerings from wealth management companies at 794 on the 1,000-point scale, property and casualty insurers at a 700 and automotive finance companies at a 672.

"So many daily interactions with service providers are successfully managed digitally, resulting in continually higher customer expectations for a world-class digital experience," Eric McCready, director of digital solutions at J.D. Power, said in a public statement.

"However, health insurance providers have a lot of work to do to close the gap to other industries," McCready added. "The most important factors driving member satisfaction with mobile apps and websites include making it easy to find the information they need; providing clear explanations of deductibles and out-of-pocket spending; and offering intuitive navigational elements. Many plans are simply not delivering on those basics."

The primary issue is that health plan beneficiaries can't find the information they want and need, even on a digital app designed for ease-of-use, the survey indicated.

Indeed, when members can find the health plan information they need, overall member satisfaction rises 83 points. However, the survey data showed that health insurance providers miss the mark on the digital experience nearly 39% of the time.

There were some bright spots in the survey.

For example, more people than ever are using health plans' digital offerings. In 2025, 37% of members used their health plan's apps, up from 31% who said the same in 2024. The app is the digital destination of choice for most health plan members, the survey added, with satisfaction being higher for the health plan app than for the plan's website or phone-based services.

Still, health payers should remain laser-focused on improving the digital member experience, the survey indicated. When a member has a bad digital experience, the odds they'll use that digital channel again fall to 27%.

Conversely, when beneficiaries have a good digital experience, it pays dividends in overall health plan satisfaction. Commercial health plan members who gave better digital experience scores were 58% more likely to have a positive impression of their employer, which is likely sponsoring that health insurance offering.

For Medicare Advantage beneficiaries who rated their digital experiences highly, that was linked to an 85% higher likelihood of renewing the plan.