Photo: Mo Mo Productions/Getty Images
Health insurance members across both commercial and Medicare Advantage plans are increasingly using their plan’s websites and mobile apps as their primary conduits of communication, but the quality of these digital experiences is lagging far behind what they have come to expect from other industries they interact with digitally, such as financial services, property and casualty insurance, and automotive finance.
According to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Healthcare Digital Experience Study, the websites and digital apps provided by commercial member health plans and Medicare Advantage plans are routinely missing the mark on ease of navigation, ability to review coverage and several other basics of the digital experience.
The most important factors driving member satisfaction with mobile apps and websites include making it easy to find information; providing clear explanations of deductibles and out-of-pocket spending; and intuitive navigation, with the report finding health plans aren’t delivering.
WHAT’S THE IMPACT
On average, on a 1,000-point scale, customer satisfaction with apps is 653 among commercial member health plans and 597 among Medicare Advantage plans.
Comparatively, customer satisfaction with apps is significantly higher in three other industries in which J.D. Power conducts studies: full-service wealth management companies (794), property and casualty insurers (700), and automotive finance companies (672).
Among commercial member health plan digital experiences in which overall satisfaction scores are 801 or higher, 58% of members are likely to have a much more positive impression of their employers. Among Medicare Advantage plan digital experiences in which overall satisfaction scores are 801 or higher, 85% of members say they “definitely will” renew with their current plan, which is more than double the intended loyalty rate for those digital experiences with scores of 500 or less.
The most important factor driving satisfaction with both commercial health plans and Medicare Advantage plans is ease of finding needed information, the report found. When that basic criterion is met, overall member satisfaction rises 83 points, yet health plans are failing to deliver that level of digital experience 39% of the time.
The percentage of commercial health plan members who have used their insurers’ mobile app within the past year rose to 37% in 2025, up from 31% in 2024, and overall satisfaction is highest (636) among those who use the mobile app when compared with a website (607) or phone (607).
However, when members have a poor digital experience, their likelihood of reusing that channel again in the future falls to just 27%.
Cigna Healthcare ranks highest in satisfaction among commercial member health plans with a score of 683. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (680) ranks second, and Centene (664) ranks third.
UPMC Health Plan ranks highest in satisfaction among Medicare Advantage plans with a score of 687. UnitedHealthcare (650) ranks second and Cigna Healthcare (644) ranks third.
THE LARGER TREND
Last year, in a separate study, J.D. Power found that 42% of insured adults say they’ve experienced a problem using their health insurance website and/or app over the past 12 months. And the websites and digital apps provided by commercial member health plans and Medicare Advantage plans are not meeting foundational levels of functionality, according to the study.
In fact, nearly one-third (32%) of health insurance websites and apps don’t meet the level for “intuitive organization of information,” according to J.D. Power.
Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: [email protected]
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.
link