Consumer satisfaction with HMOs continues to decline while members of point of service (POS) plans are increasingly satisfied with their healthcare options, according to healthcare research firm Caredata.com.
This year, HMO satisfaction dropped to 55% from 58% last year and POS satisfaction jumped five percentage points to 54%.
HMO members are particularly dissatisfied with their health plan's assistance with medical decisions, the difficulty contacting plan representatives and getting questions answered in a timely manner.
Another issue that rubbed members the wrong way is pharmacy benefit coverage. Satisfaction with this coverage declined 7% to 62%, primarily due to formulary restrictions, drug substitutions and an inability to get the best-perceived medications.
Physician satisfaction is the only area that increased among both HMO and POS plan members. Among HMO members, 67% were highly satisfied with their primary care physicians (up 1% from last year) and among POS members, 66% were highly satisfied (up 4%).
The survey is based on responses from 24,802 health plan members who belong to 159 managed care plans in 27 markets.
(www.caredata.com, 800/955-5056)