2017 RANKING & REVIEWS
TOP-RANKING BEST HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES
Getting Covered by the Best Health Insurance Companies
Taking the time to find the best health insurance companies is a matter of physical, mental, and financial importance. Lack of medical insurance from top health insurance companies means potentially facing a huge bill after the next medical emergency. You never know when you’ll need to visit a doctor or stay at the hospital, so having up-to-date insurance is crucial. The U.S. is home to some of the largest health insurance companies that are at your disposal.
Even with the availability of major health insurance companies, the percentage of uninsured Americans stood quite high for some time. Recently, the number of Americans who do not have health insurance dropped from 33 million in 2014 to 29 million people in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is not just due to the variety of plans from the biggest health insurance companies but also thanks to the Affordable Care Act, nicknamed “Obamacare.”
Award Emblem: Best Health Insurance Companies
The legislation introduced by the Obama administration requires all healthcare companies (from the top health insurance companies to the largest health insurance companies) to approve applicants. Before, major healthcare companies were able to deny those applying for health insurance for things like pre-existing health conditions. This made it difficult for patients to access vital policies from some of the country’s biggest health insurance companies.
How to Shop for Healthcare
Shopping for healthcare from top-rated health insurance companies can be a confusing process. It takes more than just making a health insurance companies list or quickly skimming health insurance company ratings.
If you’ve always been covered by good health insurance companies through your parents or your employer and are now about to lose that coverage, looking for another provider and trying to compare health insurance companies can seem like a foreign and overwhelming task.
Rest assured, finding the best health insurance company is more tedious than it is difficult. Don’t just settle for popular health insurance companies. Finding the best health insurance companies requires some shopping around to compare rates and guarantee the best package for your medical needs.
Pick Your Starting Point
One of the first things you need to do when looking for top health insurance companies is decide on your starting point. It’s not just about finding the largest health insurance companies. Instead, when making your health insurance companies list, ask yourself what’s most important to you: seeing the doctor of your choice or selecting a healthcare plan within a certain budget?
If you have a doctor that you want to continue seeing, your first task is to speak to your doctor’s office and get their health insurance companies list to see what they accept. You may have one of the best health insurance companies in mind, but if seeing your existing doctor is a deal-breaker and they do not accept the major health insurance companies you are considering, then you are simply wasting your time researching that company’s plans.
Here’s a tip: if you want to keep your doctor, do not check with the insurance company to see if your doctor is included in their network. Even the biggest health insurance companies sometimes do not have up-to-date info, leading to a lot of confusion and inconvenience if you later learn from your doctor that they no longer accept that insurance. Check with your doctor’s office first.
If you do not have flexibility in your budget to keep the doctor of your choice, then you will need to make a health insurance companies list of those you can afford and then look for doctors that accept them.
Use Healthcare Marketplaces to Find and Compare Insurance Providers
There are marketplaces available online that allows consumers to quickly access the different top-rated health insurance companies and healthcare plans that are available. This is where you can easily compare health insurance companies all in one place. Thirteen states operate their own healthcare provider marketplaces, and the rest are offered in conjunction with the federal government’s healthcare.gov website.
These healthcare marketplaces do not just help consumers find the best health insurance company or the most popular health insurance companies. They also give access to vital information and help consumers find out whether they are eligible for government subsidies. There are subsidies that can help consumers lower their out-of-pocket costs, and there are subsidies that can help consumers lower their monthly premiums.
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AdvisoryHQ’s List of Top 6 Major Health Insurance Companies
List is sorted alphabetically (click any of the top health insurance companies below to go directly to the detailed review section for those major health insurance companies):
Top 6 Best Health Insurance Companies| Brief Comparison & Ranking
Best Health Insurance Companies | Dental Coverage? | International Insurance? | Student Coverage? |
| Aetna | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | State-by-state basis | Yes | State-by-state basis |
| Cigna | Yes | Yes | No |
| Humana | Yes | No | No |
| United Healthcare | Yes | Yes | No |
| WellCare | Yes | No | No |
Table: Top 6 Best Health Insurance Companies | Above list is sorted alphabetically
Understanding Healthcare Terminology
While shopping around for plans and browsing health insurance company ratings, consumers will encounter many unfamiliar terms. To avoid that confusion and make the research process for good health insurance companies as easy as possible, we have provided a brief overview of some of the terminology you are bound to encounter while looking for the best health insurance companies.
For starters, there are a number of different health insurance plans offered by top-rated health insurance companies: HMO, PPO, and EPO. The biggest difference between these different categories is which doctors you can see while still being covered.
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Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
If you get an HMO from one of the top health insurance companies, your covered care is limited to in-network doctors. You must pick a primary care physician, and if you ever need to see a specialist, they will refer you to one of the in-network specialists. If you choose to see a doctor outside the network, you have to pay out of pocket. Only in the cases of emergencies will an HMO cover an out-of-network doctor.
An HMO from good health insurance companies is usually cheaper than other plans. HMOs from popular health insurance companies typically come with lower premiums and out-of-pocket costs. But keep in mind that if you are currently seeing a doctor that is not in your health insurance company’s network, with an HMO, you are not going to be able to continuing seeing them without paying out of pocket.
This plan is best for people who are okay selecting a new physician and who don’t think they will need to see a lot of specialists. In the case of an HMO, referrals are required in order to see a specialist. If you want to try keeping your current doctor, compare health insurance companies and their varying plans to see if you can squeeze a pricier plan other than an HMO into your budget.
Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)
Perhaps choosing your doctors is very important to you when selecting the best health insurance company. This could be because you have pre-existing health conditions that require you to spend a large amount of time interacting with doctors, or it could just be because there is already a doctor you have a good relationship with.
In this case, a preferred provider organization (PPO) from one of the top health insurance companies is your best bet. There is still a network of doctors and hospitals that a PPO works with, but you can visit professionals outside of that network and still be covered. The in-network visits, however, are cheaper since out-of-network visits will carry a higher cost.
With a PPO, you do not need a referral from a primary care physician to see a specialist. With an HMO, most of your healthcare needs are coordinated by your primary care physician, whereas you choose and coordinate a lot of your own healthcare with a PPO from major healthcare companies.
Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO)
An EPO from major health insurance companies is a mix between the HMO and the PPO. Essentially, it takes the cost-savings of an HMO and brings in some of the flexibility of a PPO. It is similar to an HMO in that there is a specific (exclusive) network of doctors that patients have to use if they want to be covered by their EPO. If a patient sees a doctor outside of this network (except for in the case of an emergency) they will not be covered.
However, there is the flexibility of a PPO because with an EPO you do not need a primary physician to act as a gatekeeper to all of the other specialists and healthcare professionals you may need.
This plan offered by some of the largest health insurance companies provides additional choice. With an HMO, you must find a primary physician. If you wish to see specialists, you have to get a referral from your primary physician. With an EPO, you still have to see doctors in network, but you can navigate the system on your own and find specialists without seeing your primary physician first to gain access.
Glossary of Common Health Insurance Terms:
- Premium: What you have to pay your insurance company each month, whether you see the doctor or not, in order to maintain your coverage
- Deductible: The lump sum of money you have to pay before your coverage starts working (typically, the larger the deductible, the lower the premium—and vice versa)
- Co-insurance: A percentage of the medical work that you have to pay out of pocket
- Co-pay: A set dollar amount you pay each time you receive any medical service (similar to co-insurance). You may have different co-pays for different services such as a doctor’s visit, a prescription, or an outpatient operation
- Out-of-pocket maximum: The most you can pay toward your deductible and out-of-pocket expenses in a year before your insurance company starts to cover everything
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Detailed Review—Top Ranking Best Health Insurance Companies
Below, please find the detailed review of each company on our list of the major health insurance companies. We have highlighted some of the factors that allowed these top health insurance companies to score so high in our selection ranking.
Aetna Review
Aetna is one of the popular health insurance companies for budget friendliness.
While they do not offer short-term plans, they offer a variety of coverage options. As one of the top health insurance companies, they provide individual and family health insurance, dental coverage, student insurance, and international insurance. With an Aetna plan, a customer can have peace of mind whether they are at home, abroad, or simply looking for a plan to keep them covered while they go to school.
The website asks basic questions like your zip code and the type of plan you’re shopping for in order to help you. If Aetna does not directly operate in your state, their website will refer you to popular health insurance companies that they are affiliated with in your area.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Review
Blue Cross Blue Shield is one of the well-known, popular health insurance companies that provides insurance plans to people across the country. Their wide range of coverage packages and plans means there are many options at varying price points for customers to choose from. They also provide services and coverage when it comes to other health- and wellness-related needs.
One thing to keep in mind when choosing Blue Cross Blue Shield is that even though it is one of the largest health insurance companies, it is technically a network of independently operated insurance providers. On a whole, the company has a great reputation and high health insurance company ratings, but specific quality control can vary from region to region. In total, there are 37 companies located across the country.
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Cigna Review
Cigna is one of the major health insurance companies that offers a variety of plans. In addition to being one of the top health insurance companies with high health insurance company ratings, it gives very useful information for customers looking to compare rates and find a competitive plan.
In addition to providing plans for regular medical coverage, Cigna offers plans that extend to dental work and travel needs. It does not offer short-term medical coverage, which means that it is not the company to choose if you are just looking for the best health insurance company to cover you while you are in between jobs or moving.
In addition to allowing you to see which doctors are included in its network, the Cigna website also allows you to run a search based on specific drugs you may need. This is a handy way to work backward in determining whether a Cigna plan is right for you. If you require a specific medication, this is a very useful tool.
Humana Review
Humana is one of the best health insurance companies to deliver budget-friendly health insurance plans at a rate lower than what most healthcare companies provide. The company is available to residents of 22 states, mostly in the southern and western United States and the Midwest. As you compare health insurance companies, you will find that it has competitive premiums and a variety of packages and programs.
Like some of the other plans on this health insurance companies list, Humana plans also come with the option to add vision and dental insurance, two areas that can be particularly pricey if customers find themselves needing unexpected work. It also provides home healthcare plans, which may be useful for seniors or those who have undergone serious medical work.
One important note to make is that Humana does not provide short-term healthcare. Some customers may be looking for the best health insurance company to simply tide them over between healthcare companies. A person moving or in between jobs may find themselves in this position. If this is the case, Humana may not be for you.
United Healthcare
United Healthcare is the priciest option on our health insurance companies list. Although prices vary based on individual circumstances (geography, age, health) United Healthcare still comes in as the more expensive option.
What sets United Healthcare apart from the other major health insurance companies in this article is how well it has set up its online service. Customers who are interested in getting information about their plan and managing their payments online will enjoy using United Healthcare because of its integrated online platform and the easy-to-use interface.
Even if you are just visiting the United Healthcare website to shop around, the company’s clean online presence makes it easy to navigate the site to compare health insurance companies and shop rates.
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WellCare Review
WellCare is an insurance company headquartered in Tampa, Florida. It is one of the top health insurance companies that focuses on providing plans for government-sponsored programs like Medicaid and Medicare. They also specifically provide coverage for prescriptions. All of the plans offered by Well Care are Medicare-approved.
The WellCare website is user-friendly. It allows visitors to navigate the site easily and find plans based on where they are located by indicating one of the states covered by WellCare. You can further narrow your search by indicating whether you’re looking for a drug coverage plan or a Medicare-approved plan and type in your zip code to compare specific plans.
Customers can easily compare plans and enroll through the website. This is one of top health insurance companies known for providing low monthly premiums for its customers. They also have more than 60,000 in-network pharmacies.
Conclusion—Getting Health Insurance Is a Must
If you do not want to pay for auto insurance, you can get rid of your car and start taking the bus. But there’s no such workaround for health insurance. With health insurance, it’s not a matter of if you’ll ever need it, but when you will need it, and nothing makes recovering from an illness more difficult than worrying about how you’re going to pay for the medicine or hospital stay. Look out for yourself by getting a plan with one of the best health insurance companies.
Getting yourself health insurance from one of the top health insurance companies means taking a huge step toward your well-being both health-wise and financially. While you can certainly find these plans on your own (especially by using the healthcare marketplaces that make searching for plans as easy as plugging in your postal code), you can also hire an insurance broker who does not get paid until you find a plan. Whichever method you choose, start getting serious about finding health insurance.
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Reasonable efforts have been made by AdvisoryHQ to present accurate information, however all info is presented without warranty. Review AdvisoryHQ’s Terms for details. Also review each firm’s site for the most updated data, rates and info.
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