ACSI: Big Health Insurers Get Mixed Customer Service Marks

By Allison Bell

December 15, 2011 at 10:03 AM

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Two large health insurers pushed their customer service grades higher this year as others saw their scores fall slightly.

ACSI L.L.C., Ann Arbor, Mich., has reported that finding in the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index survey report.

ACSI bases the satisfaction reports on surveys of about 70,000 customers. The firm measures satisfaction with 225 companies in 47 industries and 10 economic sectors.

ACSI puts health insurers in the Finance & Insurance category, along with banks, credit unions, life insurers and property-casualty insurers.

Health insurers as a group earned a satisfaction score of 72 this year, down from 73 in 2010.

Aetna Inc., Hartford (NYSE:AET), fell to 67, from 68, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans as a group fell to 68, from 70.

But WellPoint Inc., Indianapolis (NYSE:WLP), increased its score to 74, from 69, and UnitedHealth Group Inc., Minnetonka, Minn. (NYSE:UNH), increased its score to 72, from 65.

The average satisfaction score for all companies in the Finance & Insurance held steady at bout 76; health insurers were the worst performing companies in that category.

Health insurers did better than wireless telephone companies, gas stations, newspapers, subscription television services and government agencies, but they did worse than most of the other types of entities that ACSI tracks.

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