The future of health care in the United States is uncertain. The days of Obamacare seem numbered, yet a viable replacement for it remains elusive.
Yet this much we do know: The insurers listed below offer the best care at the best price, according to a new survey from J.D. Power.
Read more: This major health insurer may stop paying your ER bill on July 1
Looking for better health insurance? Start here
J.D. Power’s 11th Annual Member Health Plan Study is one of the latest reads you can get of the way health care looks today from a patient’s perspective.
Culled from 33,624 customer responses, the study looked at 168 health plans across 22 regions of the country during the first quarter of 2017.
Insurers were graded on six metrics: Coverage and benefits; provider network; communication; claims processing; premiums; and customer service.
The insurers that did the best were those that ranked the highest in at least one region, according to J.D. Power.
- Kaiser Foundation Health Plan
- Highmark BlueCross BlueShield of Delaware
- BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
- AvMed
- Wellmark BlueCross BlueShield of Iowa
- Health Alliance Medical Plans
- BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts
- Health Alliance Plan of Michigan
- Unity Health Plans
- SelectHealth
- Horizon BlueCross BlueShield
- Capital District Physicians Health Plan
- BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont
- Medical Mutual of Ohio
- UPMC Health Plan
- BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona
- Humana
Keep in mind that not all plans are available in all regions of the country.
But J.D. Power has done a great job identifying top insurers no matter where you live. Visit JDPower.com to see the list of best insurers for your specific region.
One special note: Kaiser Foundation Health Plan ranked highest in six regions — Maryland, South Atlantic, California, Virginia, Northwest and Colorado. That was a feat unique among the insurers J.D. Power looked at.
What about faith-based health care?
We get a lot of questions about faith-based health care and if it’s something you should consider buying into.
The way the process generally works is that you go into a risk pool for health care with people who share your religious beliefs. This is especially popular in the Christian community.
These organizations either charge you a monthly premium, or when somebody gets sick, then you are sent a bill to help pay for their coverage.
“These are not traditional insurance options. They are much cheaper for you to go into,” money expert Clark Howard says. “But the problem with any risk pool is if a number of people end up with a serious illness, there may not be enough money to pay the bills.”
So consider that carefully before getting into faith-based health care!
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