NCQA annual health insurance plan ratings
In the landscape of American healthcare, no sector is less trusted than health insurance. According to a 2021 American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation surveyjust 33% of people said they trust health insurance companies, compared with 85% who said they trust doctors.
New data from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) suggests this figure may not be improving.
In NCQA’s 2022 Health Plan Ratings, released today, satisfaction with care got worse among members on commercial and Medicaid health plans. Commercial member satisfaction dropped 4 points, from 55.9% last year to 51.8% this year, and Medicaid member satisfaction dropped 2 points, from 58.7% last year to 56.5% this year. Though these changes may look small, they are statistically significant.
The annual ratings evaluate health plans across the commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid segments. Plans are rated on a scale of 0 to 5 stars based on nearly 50 assessments of patients’ access to care, outcomes, experience, and satisfaction. These assessments capture things like how easy or hard it is for members to get the care they need and how satisfied members are with their health plan’s customer service.
The 2022 ratings include health plans serving more than 200 million people, more than 60% of the United States population, according to NCQA.
Overall, just six out of 1,048 health plans in the 2022 ratings earned 5 stars, the best possible score. Of the six top-rated plans, four are Kaiser Foundation Health Plans, including Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, which earned 5 stars in all three insurance categories. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado also earned the top score in Medicare.
Kaiser Foundation Health Plans may do particularly well on these ratings because they use an integrated approach, connecting health