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Our take
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan ranks highly as a good all-around health insurance provider. While it wasn’t singled out in any one particular category for being the best among its top competitors, BCBS of Michigan did perform well overall.
It received a strong 4 out of 5 stars from the National Committee for Quality Assurance. NCQA evaluates healthcare plans on, among other things, member satisfaction. It also finished in the top half among insurers we rated for customer satisfaction.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan ranked sixth overall in Insure.com’s list of the Best Health Insurance of Companies for 2023.
However, it’s largely limited to residents in the State of Michigan or employees with companies that are headquartered there.
Pros and Cons
- It received high marks from the NCQA
- It has a low level of complaints
- It ranked in the top half of the list for customer satisfaction
- It wasn’t as likely to be recommended to others
- Only available to Michigan residents or employees with companies headquartered there
Below is Insure.com’s review of the company. It’s based on third-party metrics and our in-depth survey of insurance customers. Find the full methodology here, including an explanation of our survey scores.
How much does BCBS of Michigan insurance cost?
While the company scored well in other areas, it placed in the bottom half of the companies we ranked for affordability.
| Insurance company | Rank for price/affordability among Insure.com’s top 10 |
|---|---|
| BCBS of Michigan | 9 |
| Aetna | 1 |
| UnitedHealthcare | 2 (tie) |
| Cigna | 2 (tie) |
How BCBS of Michigan scores for customer satisfaction
Our survey found that 89% of BCBS of Michigan’s customers think it does a good job at achieving high customer satisfaction, placing it among the top insurers in our survey. It wasn’t far behind the category leader, Kaiser Permanente, which achieved high customer satisfaction marks from 93% of customers.
It also scored well against 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) |
|---|---|---|
| BCBS of Michigan | 89% | 748 |
| Blue California | 91% | 738 |
| Florida Blue | 74% | 746 |
How BCBS of Michigan scores for complaints filed against the company
BCBS of Michigan has an excellent track record 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 equal to its customer base, it receives a 1.00 score. If it has twice as many complaints as its share of business, it gets a 2.0. BCBS of Michigan had a score of 0.37, meaning it had a small number of complaints filed compared to its market share.
| Insurance company | NAIC Complaint Index |
|---|---|
| BCBS of Michigan | 0.37 |
Would current customers recommend BCBS of Michigan to others?
The poll found that 84% of customers surveyed would recommend BCBS of Michigan to others. This was a somewhat unusual finding, as companies with high customer satisfaction marks usually do similarly well in this category. Kaiser led this category, with 96% of its customers saying they’d recommend it.
| Insurance company | Percent of customers who would recommend their health insurance company to others |
|---|---|
| BCBS of Michigan | 84% |
| Blue California | 87% |
| Florida Blue | 83% |
How trustworthy is BCBS of Michigan?
The majority of its customers do believe BCBS of Michigan is worthy of their trust. While it placed in the middle of the pack in our survey, the 74% approval rating was fairly high. Kaiser Permanente led the survey at 87%.
| Insurance company | Percent of customers who say they trust their health insurance company |
|---|---|
| BCBS of Michigan | 74% |
| Blue California | 70% |
| Florida Blue | 65% |
Do current BCBS of Michigan customers plan to renew?
When customers were asked if they planned to renew with BCBS of Michigan, 84% said they would. While good, that was among the lower scores in our survey.
| Insurance company | Percent of customers who plan to renew with their health insurance company |
|---|---|
| BCBS of Michigan | 84% |
| Blue California | 83% |
| Florida Blue | 87% |
How BCBS of Michigan scores for policy offerings
BCBS of Michigan customers are satisfied with the policies offered. Blue Shield of California and Kaiser led this category.
| Insurance company | Percent of customers who score their insurance company highly for policy offerings |
|---|---|
| BCBS of Michigan | 79% |
| Blue California and Kaiser | 91% |
| Florida Blue | 78% |
Company health insurance coverage
- Traditional plans for families and individuals
- Health insurance through employers
- Medicare and Medicaid plans
- Pharmacy plans
- International plans
Other services offered
- Dental
- Vision
- Wellness plans that reward members for improving their health
States where BCBS of Michigan offers coverage
Company background
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s roots date back to 1938 when the Michigan Society for Group Hospitalization and a doctors’ organization, Michigan Medical Service, were formed. The two groups worked together to work on bills to regulate prepaid health care plans and support nonprofit hospitals.
By 1940 the Michigan Society for Group Hospitalization had more than 175,000 members from some 350 employers. That same year the Society and the Medical Service changed their names to Michigan Blue Cross and Michigan Blue Shield.
In 1966 Michigan Blue Cross and Michigan Blue shield began administering Medicare in the state. It has continued to grow ever since.
The non-profit company now ranks as the largest health insurer in the state, serving 4.5 million people and 1.6 million in other states working for companies headquartered in Michigan. Its provider network includes more than 33,000 doctors and 152 hospitals.
It has a strong record for supporting its communities and has committed to pay $1.56 billion to the Michigan Health Endowment Fund through 2031. The fund aims to improve health care, access, cost and quality of care and the health and wellness of children and seniors throughout the state.
Resources & Methodology
Sources:
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. “Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.” Accessed December 2022.
