Cigna, UnitedHealth score well on disclosures

Health care providers Cigna Inc. and UnitedHealth Group, both with Hartford area operations, ranked above average in explaining to consumers how their medical plans work, a Boston survey firm says.

Cigna, with a major claims and customer-service center in Bloomfield, was one of only three health-plan providers rated "excellent'' in DALBAR Inc.'s inaugural sampling. The others were Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Humana Inc.

DALBAR Managing Director Kathleen Whalen said her firm analyzed the usefulness and ease of understanding of customer summary of care charges and benefit payments from 34 leading carriers, as well as the federal Medicare/Medicaid program.

Two carriers scored "very good,'' while six others, including UnitedHealth and WellPoint Inc.'s Anthem Blue Cross of California, rated "good,'' Whalen said. The rest failed to rank high enough to make it into one of those categories, she said.

"We were quite taken aback by the level of confusion'' among the panel of consumers and industry experts DALBAR assembled to decipher the carriers' documents, Whalen said.

Of course, Cigna couldn't resist crowing about its achievement.

"We've been listening to our customers,'' Ingrid Lindberg, Cigna's customer experience officer, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, DALBAR will provide specifics -- for a fee -- to carriers that didn't fare well on what they can do to improve, Whalen said.