May 8, 2008 
JD Power just finished their second annual National Health Insurance Plan Study which looks at member satisfaction.
“The study finds that the majority of health plan members rate their insurer lowest for the communications and information that are provided to help them understand their plan. Only 45 percent of members reported they fully understand how to use their health insurance coverage and member services. Enhancing member understanding with critical plan details—such as prescription coverage, co-pays, how to locate physicians and how to appeal coverage denials—can lead to higher satisfaction ratings for insurers.”
They evaluated 17 regions and publish reports like the following:
Information and communications is the third largest driver of health plan satisfaction at 17%. The only two things above it are coverage and benefits (#1) and choice of physicians, hospitals, and pharmacies (#2). So, it makes a great case for why communications is something to invest in and focus on. It drives satisfaction which drives retention. Additionally, it is something through which you can create sustainable differentiation. Benefit design and network size are pretty easy to copy.
Enabling Healthy Decisions 
Maybe if the health insurance industry would change their paradigm of not paying for preventative healthcare we could save a lot of money. Instead of waiting for a disease or health condition to occur, we could reward the healthy person for staying healthy. Now, there’s a concept, but then the healthcare industry would suffer, right? I guess the AMA has its hooks into big insurance. What a surprise!