The top 10 health insurance companies in the U.S. for 2025
The last thing you want to worry about when you’re sick is your health insurance coverage, so it’s essential to find the right plan. We asked current customers to rate their health insurance company on various points, from overall customer satisfaction to deductibles and provider networks.
These are the top ten health insurance companies based on the survey results and third-party ratings, including those of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
| 2025 Rank | 2024 Rank | Company | Overall rating | Customer satisfaction rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 Rank: 1 (tie) | 2024 Rank: 1 | Comapny name: Kaiser Permanente | Overall rating: | Customer satisfaction rating: |
| 2025 Rank: 1 (tie) | 2024 Rank: 4 | Comapny name: UnitedHealthcare | Overall rating: | Customer satisfaction rating: |
| 2025 Rank: 3 | 2024 Rank: 10 | Comapny name: Aetna | Overall rating: | Customer satisfaction rating: |
| 2025 Rank: 4 | 2024 Rank: 2 | Comapny name: Highmark | Overall rating: | Customer satisfaction rating: |
| 2025 Rank: 5 (tie) | 2024 Rank: 8 | Comapny name: Elevance | Overall rating: | Customer satisfaction rating: |
| 2025 Rank: 5 (tie) | 2024 Rank: 6 | Comapny name: Health Care Service Corp. | Overall rating: | Customer satisfaction rating: |
| 2025 Rank: 5 (tie) | 2024 Rank: 5 | Comapny name: Humana | Overall rating: | Customer satisfaction rating: |
| 2025 Rank: 8 | 2024 Rank: 13 | Comapny name: Cigna | Overall rating: | Customer satisfaction rating: |
| 2025 Rank: 9 | 2024 Rank: 9 | Comapny name: Molina Healthcare | Overall rating: | Customer satisfaction rating: |
Best health insurance companies in detail
Below, we’ll take a closer look at the top 10 health insurance companies in this year’s rankings.
Kaiser Permanente: 4.17
California-based Kaiser Permanente topped several survey categories and ranked well in third-party ratings, receiving an overall score of 4.17. It tied with UnitedHealthcare for first place overall.
Kaiser Permanente received high scores in multiple categories, and 87.7% of customers surveyed said they would recommend the company to others. Kaiser also ranked well for affordability, with the third-highest score.
UnitedHealthcare: 4.17
UnitedHealthcare tied for first place, receiving 4.17 out of 5 stars overall. The insurer received a high score for customer loyalty — with 88.7% of policyholders saying they would renew their coverage with the company and 94% saying they would recommend it to others.
AM Best also rated the company A+, and the National Committee for Quality Assurance gave it 3.4 out of 5 stars.
Aetna: 4.10
Aetna climbed to third place for 2025 with 4.1 out of 5 stars overall and solid scores throughout the survey. Customers marked it particularly highly for ease of accessing policy documents and for affordability. The survey found that 87.2% of Aetna customers plan to renew their health insurance.
Aetna has a low NAIC complaint ratio of 0.26 and an A rating from AM Best.
Highmark: 4.02
Highmark ranked at No. 4 for 2025, receiving 4.02 out of 5 stars.
Highmark outperformed its competitors in a few categories, and was the most likely to be recommended to others in our survey; a full 100% of customers said they’d recommend the company.
Elevance: 3.95
Elevance received 3.95 out of 5 stars, a score shared by two other companies, Humana and HCSC, for fifth place. Elevance was the second-highest rated for customer satisfaction among ranked companies, has a below-average NAIC complaint ratio and an A rating from AM Best.
Health Care Services Corp.: 3.95
The second company to earn 3.95 stars for a three-way tie for fifth place, Health Care Services Corp. (HCSC) scored well in the survey for customer satisfaction and ease of service.
HSCS had lower scores for affordability and low deductibles tha many competitors.
Humana: 3.95
Humana wraps up the three-way tie for fifth place. The insurer received high scores of 91% for both customer loyalty and recommendations. It also received a high score for policy offerings.
Humana received an A from AM Best and 3.3 out of 5 stars from the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
Cigna: 3.84
Cigna landed in eighth place with a score of 3.84 out of 5 stars overall. It had solid scores in most categories but scored a little lower for affordability. Nearly 83% of respondents said they would recommend the company to others, and it ranked well for customer service.
Molina: 3.60
Earning 3.6 out of 5 stars, Molina ranked ninth in 2025. It had the best score for affordability overall, and a high score for customer satisfaction, but had the highest NAIC complaint ratio score of any company, double the expected number of complaints for a company of its size.
The best health insurance companies by category
We ranked the companies above for overall performance, but some stood out in particular categories. Here are the winners for customer satisfaction, low deductibles, provider network and more.
- Best for price/affordability: Molina
- Best for customer satisfaction: Humana
- Best for policy offerings: Molina
- Most likely to be recommended to others: Highmark
- Most trustworthy: UnitedHealthcare
- Best for renewals: Molina
- Best for low deductibles: Molina
- Best for its provider network: Elevance
How to choose the best health insurance company and plan
When shopping for health insurance on the individual market, the choices can seem overwhelming. The first step is to determine your monthly budget for premiums and balance that with the out-of-pocket costs you’re willing to pay.
As a general rule, the more you pay monthly, the lower your deductible, copay and coinsurance amounts will be. So, you pay more monthly and less when you need care.
If you need medical care frequently throughout the year, paying more monthly to ensure lower out-of-pocket costs makes sense. However, if you’re young and healthy and don’t anticipate frequent doctor visits, you can likely choose a lower monthly premium and a higher deductible.
The next step is to decide what kind of provider network you want, which helps to determine the type of health insurance plan you should buy. Your choices include HMO, PPO, POS and possibly others.
With an HMO, you will have a primary care provider (PCP), who coordinates your care, and no out-of-network coverage. This usually means you will pay less.
With a PPO, you’ll have coverage in and out of network, and can usually make appointments with specialists without a referral. This usually means higher premiums.
Some companies offer HMO and PPO plans, while others are solely HMO. There are also a few hybrid plan options to choose from. Knowing what you want for coverage will help you narrow your company choices. From there, you can look at the availability of providers in your area and, of course, the company’s reputation.
Silver plans provide a good balance of monthly premiums with out-of-pocket costs. Coinsurance is 70% with a silver plan, meaning you will pay 30% of the costs after your deductible is met, up to the out-of-pocket limit. Silver plans are a good choice for people who are in generally good health but don't want high out-of-pocket costs if something goes wrong. Bronze plans are a popular choice with those who value low monthly premiums and are willing to pay more when they need care. Coinsurance is set at 60%, meaning you will pay 40% if you do need care, up to the out-of-pocket limit. Bronze plans are good for those who don't expect to need many services outside of preventative care throughout the year.
ACA platinum plans have the highest monthly premiums, but the lowest out-of-pocket costs. You'll pay more monthly in return for lower deductibles, copays and coinsurance amounts. Coinsurance with platinum plans is 90%, which means you pay 10% after the deductible, up to your out-of-pocket limit. Platinum plans are good for those who anticipate a lot of medical needs throughout the year.
Gold plans cost a little less than platinum plans, and come with higher out-of-pocket costs. The coinsurance amount on a gold plan is 80%, which means you pay 20% after the deductible, up to your out-of-pocket limit. A gold plan is a good idea if you think you'll need a lot of care throughout the year, but don't want to pay platinum premiums.Health insurance finder tool
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Employer-sponsored health insurance
Preferred-provider Organization (PPOs)
Preferred-provider organization (PPOs) plans are the most common type of
employer-based health plan. PPOs have higher premiums than HMOs and HDHPs, but
those added costs offer you flexibility. A PPO allows you to get care anywhere
and without primary care provider referrals. You may have to pay more to get
out-of-network care, but a PPO will pick up a portion of the costs.
Find out more about the differences between plansHealth maintenance organization (HMO)
Health maintenance organization (HMO) plans have lower premiums than PPOs.
However, HMOs have more restrictions. HMOs don't allow you to get care outside
of your provider network. If you get out-of-network care, you'll likely have to
pay for all of it. HMOs also require you to get primary care provider referrals
to see specialists.
Find out more about the differences between plansHigh-deductible health plans (HDHPs)
High-deductible health plans (HDHPs) have become more common as employers look
to reduce their health costs. HDHPs have lower premiums than PPOs and HMOs, but
much higher deductibles. A deductible is what you have to pay for health care
services before your health plan chips in money. Once you reach your deductible,
the health plan pays a portion and you pay your share, which is called
coinsurance.
Find out more about the differences between plansExclusive provider organization (EPO)
Exclusive provider organization (EPO) plans offer the flexibility of a PPO with
the restricted network found in an HMO. EPOs don't require that members get a
referral to see a specialist. In that way, it's similar to a PPO. However, an
EPO requires in-network care, which is like an HMO.
Find out more about the differences between plans
Learn more about individual insurance plans
Know more individual insurance / ACA 
Know more individual insurance / ACA 
Methodology
70+
Carriers reviewed
1,750
Consumers surveyed
60+
Insurance metrics examined
34,600
ZIP codes examined
In the fall of 2024, our sister site, Insure.com, surveyed more than 1,750 insurance consumers (almost 1,500 of which had health insurance). The survey was conducted by online market research company Slice MR.
Respondents were asked to name their health insurer and then grade it in a number of categories, including:
- Customer satisfaction
- Ease of service
- Policy offerings
- The cost of insurance/affordability
- Low deductible
- Preferred providers available
- Not needing a referral
The percentage of respondents who said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their insurer is presented in the results.
We then asked respondents to provide a yes or no response to indicate their agreement with the following statements:
- I plan to keep my coverage with my current health insurance company
- I would recommend my health insurance company to others
- I trust my health insurance company
The percentage of respondents who said yes is presented in the results.
The editors compiled the survey results and then selected – based on the number of survey responses – the top companies for further evaluation.
We then collected data from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), which evaluates and rates health plans, and National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ complaint data, which ranks a company by the number of customer complaints it receives. The Insure.com team identified the NAIC codes of each underwriting company for each carrier and calculated a weighted average complaint index, weighted by the annual written premium. The associated NAIC complaint index score was used in the calculations.
With the help of Prof. David Marlett, Ph.D., Managing Director of the Brantley Risk and Insurance Center at Appalachian State University, the editors created a rating system to determine which insurance companies were best in each sector. For life insurers, we took the following and gave each a weight.
- Survey: 60% of the total score (10% customer satisfaction, 10% recommended, 10% policy retention, 10% trust, and 20% affordability)
- NCQA: 25% of total score
- NAIC: 15% of total score
Each insurer was awarded between half a star and 5 stars. No company in the ranking received less than half a star in any category, and 5 stars was the most any insurer could receive.
