Best Health Insurance Companies (2024)

Best Health Insurance Companies

Best Health Insurance Companies

Blue Cross Blue Shield has strong ratings and offers a variety of quality, affordable health insurance plans, making it our top pick as the best overall health insurance provider.

Blue Cross Blue Shield is our all-around favorite because it hits the mark on a number of fronts. First, it won our best overall cost score, which combines information about premiums, deductibles, and copays across various age groups and metal tiers. BCBS also offers the best value for popular silver plans and the best value for 60-year-olds, based on the quotes we gathered. So, if you’re in that age group or looking for a medium level of coverage, this may be the provider for you.

BCBS has an average NCQA rating of 3.59 out of 5 stars, the second highest of the insurers we reviewed. We like the fact that offerings are robust, too. In addition to health maintenance organization (HMO) plans, BCBS offers preferred provider organization (PPO) plans, exclusive provider organization (EPO) plans, and point-of-service (POS) plans, which is great if you don’t want to be restricted to in-network providers. And you can choose from four metal levels (bronze, silver, gold, platinum) and catastrophic coverage.

Plans are available nationwide but vary by region, and Marketplace plans are not available in all areas. However, BCBS boasts one of the largest provider networks overall, with 1.7 million providers. Blue Cross Blue Shield is also an excellent choice for self-employed people and is our top pick in that category. (Note that we excluded Anthem from our evaluation of BCBS because it is a large competitor of BCBS in some markets.)

Kaiser Permanente is our pick for the best quality plans because of its high customer satisfaction and quality rating from NCQA, in addition to well-priced premiums.

Kaiser Permanente’s plans have the highest member experience ratings of any of the providers we reviewed. Kaiser’s plans have an average 4.2-star rating from the NCQA. Plus, the company came in first and second across multiple regions in the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Commercial Health Plan Study.

In addition, Kaiser offered the least expensive premiums for 25-, 35-, and 45-year-olds, and two metal levels (bronze and gold) that we surveyed.

However, Kaiser Permanente is only available in eight states and the District of Columbia, and the insurer’s HMO plans restrict care to in-network providers. Kaiser Permanente offers four metal levels plus catastrophic coverage. So you’ll have options if you want an HMO in a state the insurer serves.

Oscar is our pick for health management programs, because it offers the highest number of those perks along with low copays.

A preventive health leader, Oscar offers the widest range of medical management programs among the providers we researched, along with an innovative program to reward you for taking steps toward a healthier future.

Programs include asthma, diabetes, depression, pain management, heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol, low back pain, and pregnancy. It was the only insurer among the ones we surveyed to offer a weight loss program.

Oscar also has the lowest physician copays ($0 in many cases). In particular, its bronze and silver plans offer particularly low out-of-pocket costs.

You can get $0 virtual primary and urgent care with most plans and anywhere between $25 and $100 in Amazon gift cards for meeting your annual walking step goals.

Though not all plan types are available everywhere, Oscar has PPOs, HMOs, and EPOs, and offers all metal tiers except platinum.

But with limited state availability, Oscar isn’t an option for everyone. In addition, Oscar doesn’t offer adult dental coverage, which you’ll need to find elsewhere.

Note that Oscar's plans only received an average 2.8-star rating from the NCQA. These ratings indicate relatively poor member experiences compared to other companies.

Aetna CVS Health provides free or low-cost MinuteClinic services seven days per week, making it the best health insurance provider for same-day care for minor issues.

Aetna’s MinuteClinic offers access to convenient, no- or low-cost services on short notice. Schedule an appointment online to visit your local MinuteClinic seven days per week. Depending on your health needs, a medication can be prescribed during your visit, which you’ll pick up on-site. In some cases, this could be a good alternative to more expensive (and time-consuming) urgent care or emergency room visits.

If you qualify for the premium tax credit and you buy your plan on the federal Health Insurance Marketplace, you could get your premium amount reduced to zero. This is why Aetna is also one of the best health insurance companies for the self-employed. Aetna's plans on the federal exchange only include federally mandated Essential Health Benefits—benefits beyond those required are not eligible for tax credits. So, make sure you understand what you're getting with the plan.

Aetna also provides a $25/quarter allowance toward CVS-branded wellness products.

It offers HMOs, PPOs, EPOs, and HMO-POS plans, but only in three metal tiers: Expanded bronze, silver, and gold. Its bronze pricing was the second-lowest among the insurers we surveyed. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the few providers we surveyed without catastrophic plans.

Aetna’s plans have an average NCQA rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, an improvement over last year’s score of 3.4. The company does not offer either adult dental coverage, however, and its ACA plans aren’t available nationwide.