New Survey Reveals Best and Worst Health Insurance Companies

Results Reveal Two Outliers - Aetna as Preferred Partner, UnitedHealthcare as
Bad Actor

NOTE: Graphics and fact sheet available by contacting
bedwards@daviespublicaffairs.com.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
DAVIES, one of the largest public affairs agencies in the country, today
released the results of its third annual National Payor Survey of hospital
executives. The survey measured hospital executives` perceptions of the nation`s
largest health insurance companies. It was coupled with the first National Payor
Survey of employers, a new survey that targeted individuals responsible for
selecting health plan coverage for employers of all sizes.

The only survey of its kind in the country, the National Payor Survey of health
plan reputation targeted hospital leaders who negotiate contracts with major
health insurance companies - hospital CEOs, CFOs and directors of managed care.
Total responses represented more than 18% of the hospitals in the country, which
is an increase of 78% from the 2007 survey.

Although health plans are rated poorly in a variety of other surveys - including
JD Powers and Harris Poll - the DAVIES survey revealed two outliers in the
health insurance community. For the first time, hospitals identified a preferred
business partner in Aetna. And for the third straight year, UnitedHealthcare
stood out dramatically as a bad actor in its ratings.

Aetna as Preferred Partner

For the first time, the survey revealed a preferred partner for hospitals and
physicians. Aetna received a 64% favorable rating (compared to a 34% unfavorable
rating), which was 9% better than CIGNA, the second-best rated plan and a full
48% better than the worst rated plan, UnitedHealthcare. The survey reveals a
strong preference from hospitals based on trust, honesty, business practices and
good faith negotiations.

"Aetna is clearly the preferred health insurance partner for hospitals and
health systems across the United States," said Brandon Edwards, President/COO of
DAVIES. "When you combine this survey data with recent publicly traded health
plan earnings announcements, it`s clear that provider trust and satisfaction are
leading indicators of organic membership growth. This bodes well for Aetna, and
perhaps CIGNA, as they look at 2009 commercial enrollment retention, as well as
2010 commercial enrollment growth."

UnitedHealthcare as a Negative Outlier

The survey revealed that 82% of respondents indicated an unfavorable opinion of
UnitedHealthcare, which is actually an 8% improvement for them over last year.
This contrasts with an average unfavorable rating of 34% among all other
insurance companies in the survey.

"Employers and health plan members take note - hospitals and physicians deal
with health plans every day, and they know who can be trusted to treat people
fairly and deal in good faith," said Edwards. "They have reasonably good
reimbursement rates for hospitals and physicians, but the survey reveals that
hospitals simply don`t trust UnitedHealthcare to follow-through on its promises.
Given UnitedHealthcare`s recent admission of problems with their PacifiCare
subsidiary and other customer service issues, it`s not surprising to see
significant commercial enrollment losses from Bank of America to American
Airlines to 7-Eleven and other large employers."

One striking finding is that UnitedHealthcare was not the largest payor in terms
of revenue for the average hospital, and its reimbursement rates were not
significantly lower than other major health plans. UnitedHealthcare is paying as
much or more than other insurance companies for healthcare services but they are
viewed as the worst performer by a large margin. The survey makes clear that
dissatisfaction is driven by distrust, dishonesty, flawed business process,
inadequate claims processing, claims denials and other business process
problems.

The survey gathered data on hospital leaders` opinions on the largest health
insurers or insurer groups in the nation: Aetna, CIGNA, Coventry,
Wellpoint/Anthem, Humana (new to the survey this year), UnitedHealthcare and
independent nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans. Participants were asked
to rate these companies on more than a dozen categories, from image and
reputation to detailed contract negotiation and claims processing issues. In
addition, participants were able to distinguish between their ratings of Anthem,
Anthem-owned plans like Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia, and independent Blue
Cross plans. The survey results are anonymous to protect hospitals from
retaliation by health plans who may not have appreciated the criticism.

Nathan Kaufman, a national healthcare strategy consultant and managing director
of Kaufman Strategic Advisors, remarked, "Three years in a row shows a clear
trend. United`s bad reputation seems to be an outcome of a deliberate business
strategy, approach to negotiations and set of business practices. Most
negotiations between health plans and providers take place behind closed doors.
These results reveal payors through the eyes of people who know how they act
when no one is watching - the hospitals that deal with them every day."

For employers faced with deciding which health plan they want to cover their
employees, the survey provides valuable data on the stability of healthcare
provider networks. An insurer who has a consistent record of poor negotiations
with hospital executives is more likely to force that hospital out-of-network,
meaning significant disruption in care for employees forced to travel to a
different hospital. In addition to premiums and benefit design, network
stability is one of the most important criteria in evaluating a health plan -
and, it has historically not been effectively measured.

The results of the first National Payor Survey of employers demonstrated a clear
disconnect from the hospital viewpoint. The survey targeted benefit managers and
human resource executives responsible for selecting health plan coverage. These
respondents generally give a favorable rating to their own health plan. However,
their concerns are dominated by the issue of cost as it relates to rising
premiums. Overall, nearly half the employers surveyed blame health plan profits,
industry malpractice costs and the cost of caring for the uninsured as the top
factors fueling higher insurance premiums.

These opinions, when combined, shed light on an interesting and dynamic
disconnect: that the reality on the ground, in the world of everyday purchasers
and participants, is very different from the looming conversations emerging
around healthcare reform priorities and the legislative focus of lawmakers. It
is clear the primary issue for employers is cost. For hospitals, the clear
concern is adequate reimbursement and maintaining reasonable, professional
relationships with the major health plans. The breakdown occurs between the
hospital`s view of UnitedHealthcare and employers` relatively high level of
satisfaction with UnitedHealthcare and other health plans.

The complete survey results are available online at
www.DaviesPublicAffairs.com/healthcarenews or by contacting
bedwards@daviespublicaffairs.com.

About DAVIES

DAVIES is a public affairs firm that utilizes highly-targeted grassroots and
communication programs to influence the outcome of defining, high stakes, and
controversial issues for clients who need to win. In the last three years,
DAVIES earned two distinguished national awards, The Public Affairs Agency of
the Year and The Best Agency to Work For by The Holmes Report. The firm offers
three specialized industry practice groups - Healthcare, Real Estate, and Energy
& Natural Resources - and operates from offices in Washington D.C., Santa
Barbara, Los Angeles and Sacramento. The firm has been in business for 25 years
and can be found online at www.DaviesPublicAffairs.com.

About FAIR

FAIR is supported by businesses, community leaders, physicians and hospitals
across the country. This 501(c)(4) nonprofit advocacy organization exists to
impact the health reform debate, hold health insurance companies accountable for
their behavior and improve healthcare for everyone. Visit FAIR and express your
voice at www.fairmanagedcare.org.

DAVIES
Brandon Edwards
805-963-5929 office
805-698-5780 mobile
bedwards@daviespublicaffairs.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009