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Our take
Customers gave Humana generally high marks for being a good all-around health insurance provider, and the company ranked fifth overall in Insure.com’s Best Health Insurance Companies for 2023.
The for-profit company, which offers coverage across the country, received high marks for having a strong provider network and for its policy offerings. More than 91% of customers surveyed said they would recommend the company to others.
The company also received a strong 3.5 out of 5 stars from the National Committee for Quality Assurance. NCQA evaluates healthcare plans on, among other things, member satisfaction.
Below is Insure.com’s review of the company. It’s based on third-party metrics and an in-depth survey of insurance customers. Find the full methodology here, including an explanation of our survey scores.
Pros and Cons
- Rated highly for customer satisfaction
- More than 90% of customers would recommend it
- It offers health insurance across the nation
- Other insurers had higher renewal scores
- Not rated as highly as some competitors for affordability
How much does Humana cost?
Humana customers rated it in the middle of the pack when it came to affordability. This didn’t seem to come at the cost of customer satisfaction, as it ranked in the top half of our survey in that category. And it received high marks for having low deductibles.
| Insurance company | Rank for price/affordability among Insure.com’s top 10 |
|---|---|
| Humana | 5 |
| Aetna | 1 |
| Cigna, UnitedHealthcare | 2 (tie) |
How Humana scores for customer satisfaction
Our survey found that 88% of Humana’s customers think it does a very good job at achieving customer satisfaction, placing it in the top half of companies in our survey. It wasn’t too far behind the top company, Kaiser Permanente, which achieved high customer satisfaction marks from 93% of its customers. Humana also ranked higher than other insurers when looking at average J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Commercial Member Health Plan Study scores, which measure health plans for overall customer satisfaction.
| Insurance company | Percent of customers who are satisfied with the company overall | J.D. Power overall satisfaction score (out of 1,000) |
|---|---|---|
| Humana | 88% | 777 |
| Kaiser Permanente | 93% | 766 |
| UnitedHealthcare | 86% | 711 |
How Humana scores for complaints filed against the company
The company does a pretty good job of handling complaints before they escalate. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) compares major providers on how many complaints are filed with state regulators. If a provider has a rate that is equal to its customer base, it receives a 1.0 score. If it has twice as many complaints as its share of business, it gets a 2.0. Humana had a score of 1.02, meaning the number of complaints filed was pretty much on par with its market share.
| Insurance company | NAIC Complaint Index |
|---|---|
| Humana | 1.02 |
How Humana scores for policy offerings
Another strength for Humana is its policy offerings, with 83% of customers saying they felt it had a good selection available. It had the fourth-highest score in this category. Kaiser Permanente and Blue Shield of California came out on top here.
| Insurance company | Percent of customers who score their insurance company highly for policy offerings |
|---|---|
| Humana | 83% |
| Blue California and Kaiser Permanente | 91% |
| UnitedHealthcare | 84% |
Would customers recommend Humana to others?
Yes, they would. Humana had one of the highest scores in this category, with 91% of customers saying they would recommend the company to others. Only Kaiser Permanente had a higher score.
| Insurance company | Percent of customers who would recommend their health insurance company to others |
|---|---|
| Humana | 91% |
| Kaiser Permanente | 96% |
| UnitedHealthcare | 90% |
How trustworthy is Humana?
Most customers do believe they can trust Humana. It received a 72% approval rating in this category, which put it in the middle of the pack. Kaiser Permanente led the ratings at 87%.
| Insurance company | Percent of customers who say they trust their health insurance company |
|---|---|
| Humana | 72% |
| Kaiser Permanente | 87% |
| Cigna | 71% |
Do current Humana customers plan to renew?
Most do, but not all. When customers were asked if they planned to renew with Humana, 87% said they would. While high, that was in the bottom half of our survey.
| Insurance company | Percent of customers who plan to renew with their health insurance company |
|---|---|
| Humana | 87% |
| Anthem | 95% |
| Kaiser Permanente | 93% |
How Humana scores for digital experience
Customers didn’t find the company’s website or online experience to be particularly strong. But then, few insurers did especially well in this category. The company’s MyHumana self-serve website offers many tools to check claims status, find coverage details and search for resources on its provider network. The MyHumana app has a 3 out of 5-star rating at the Apple store.
| Insurance company | Survey score for digital experience |
|---|---|
| Humana | 31% |
| Cigna | 37% |
| Aetna | 37% |
How Humana scores for low deductibles
Customers gave Humana high marks for having low deductibles. The company was the third highest-rated company in this category among the companies we ranked. Blue Shield of California had the highest score in this category.
| Insurance company | Survey score for low deductibles |
|---|---|
| Blue California | 100% |
| Florida Blue | 83% |
| Humana | 77% |
How Humana scores for its provider network
A healthcare provider network is a group of doctors, specialists and hospitals that provide services to insured members at a lower cost than providers outside the network. A strong provider network can be a key consideration when shopping for a health plan. Humana’s provider network was considered to be in the top half of the companies in the survey.
| Insurance company | Survey score for provider network |
|---|---|
| Humana | 64% |
| Aetna | 60% |
| UnitedHealthcare | 54% |
Humana health insurance coverage options
- Insurance for families and individuals
- Health insurance via employers
- Medicare and Medicaid plans
- Military plans
- Pharmacy coverage
Other Humana services
- Dental
- Vision
- Group life insurance
States where Humana offers coverage
Company background
Humana has approximately 17 million members in its various medical benefit plans as well as about 5 million members in its specialty products. It has participated in Medicare for the last 30 years and offers a Medicare program in all 50 states.
Humana’s early beginnings were in the nursing home business.
In 1959, David Jones Sr. met Wendell Cherry during a job interview, and together they started a nursing home company. That company, known in 1968 as Extendicare, became the largest nursing home operation in the U.S.
In 1972, they decided to sell the nursing homes and focus instead on hospital ownership. In 1974, the partners changed the name of the business to Humana.
Humana moved into the health insurance business in 1984 when one of its hospitals in Arizona lost a contract with the main health insurer serving the state. They later spun off the hospital operations into a separate company and eventually sold the business.
In addition to offering a range of plans to individuals and families, Humana is one of the largest providers of Medicare, providing coverage in all 50 states.
Humana is recognized as being particularly good at catering to seniors and offers a number of programs to assist seniors in staying fit and healthy. Its Silver Sneakers fitness program offers online classes, organized group activities and access to fitness centers across the country.
