Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware topped the list in customer satisfaction in a regional ranking from JD Power and Associates.
The region included Washington, D.C. and West Virginia as well as the First State. J.D. Power’s rankings grouped states, but in some cases listed big states like California in a separate category.
The Delaware affiliate topped Highmark of West Virginia, as well as Cigna and Aetna.
Highmark Blue Cross’ score was 712, above the regional average of 691. However, Highmark’s score was well below Kaiser’s 794 figure for Maryland.
Caremark, which, for a time, was affiliated with the Delaware Blue Cross entity, came in with a higher score in Maryland than Highmark Delaware. Maryland regulators forced Caremark to sell off the Delaware affiliate.
UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) had the top score in Pennsylvania.
The study noted that health plans that utilize an integrated delivery system – a network of health care and health insurance organizations presented that form a single delivery organization —outperform traditional health plans on every factor measured in the study.
Delaware does not have an integrated health system.
Ranking high throughout the nation was the California-based Kaiser Foundation. Kaiser is typically located in states, such as Maryland, which have a large percentage of federal workers.
Satisfaction is highest among health plan members in five regions: Maryland (723); East South Central (722); California (716); Michigan (716); and Ohio (714). Satisfaction is lowest among members in the Colorado (676) and Northeast (682) regions.
Click here for the full study.
