More older Americans are choosing Medicare Advantage plans,according to the J.D. Power 2017 Medicare AdvantageStudy.^SM

But many health plans are not maximizing their potential byproactively marketing their offerings to consumers – and most arefalling short when it comes to successfully addressing providerintegration and access to care for their members, the reportfinds.

“Our data shows that the ability to deliver consistently strongcustomer satisfaction in the Medicare Advantage market is becoming a keydifferentiator for the leaders in this space and that satisfactionis achieved through a series of highly choreographed bestpractices,” says Valerie Monet, senior director of J.D. Power’sinsurance practice.

The Costa Mesa, California firm surveyed 3,442 members ofMedicare Advantage plans across the country, and found just 11percent say they had received any communications from their healthplan regarding moving from current coverage to a Medicare Advantageplan. Among those that had, overall satisfaction scores are 52index points higher than those who received no marketing contact(762 vs. 710, respectively, on a 1,000-point scale).

For all plans, slightly more than half (54 percent) of MedicareAdvantage plan members say they “completely” understand how theirplan works, while just 34 percent says their plans effectivelycoordinate care among doctors and other health careproviders.

“Provider integration remains a friction point for most members— ensuring members generally see their doctor as a trusted partnerin their medical care is the most important factor driving thehighest levels of overall satisfaction with Medicare Advantageplans,” the study says. “Somewhat surprisingly, it is not the softskills that engender this feeling of trust, but rather assistancenavigating the myriad of health care providers and managingassociated costs that matter most.”

Overall satisfaction with Medicare Advantage plans is 799, onaverage, which is 9 points higher than the J.D. Power 2016 MedicareAdvantage Study.^SM Despite the significant opportunityto grow in this segment, only one plan, WellCare, improved themember experience significantly from the previous year.

Kaiser Permanente ranks highest in MedicareAdvantage member satisfaction for a third consecutive year, with ascore of 852, which is 49 points higher than the second-rankedplan. Kaiser outperforms all other plans across five of the sixfactors that comprise the overall satisfaction index. Highmarkranks second, with a score of 803, and Humana ranks third, with ascore of 794.

The study, now in its third year, measures member satisfactionwith Medicare Advantage plans — also called Medicare Part C or PartD — based on six factors (in order of importance): coverage andbenefits (25 percent); customer service (19 percent); claimsprocessing (15 percent); cost (14 percent); provider choice (14percent); and information and communication (12 percent).