Insurance companies might feel a little like Rodney Dangerfield these days about not getting respect. They’re the ones everyone loves to hate, from employees to doctors and hospitals. But for most employers, as long as they’re getting the most competitive rates from their carrier, they’re happy.

According to DAVIES, a public affairs agency that just released a National Payor Survey of Employers as well as a survey of hospital executives, both examining perceptions about the quality of large health insurance companies’ performance, benefit managers and HR executives responsible for selecting plan coverage generally give a favorable rating to their own health plan. Not too surprisingly, their concerns are dominated by the issue of cost as it relates to rising premiums.

Overall, nearly half of 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. But hospital executives have a somewhat different viewpoint. Hospital executives, who named Aetna as preferred partner, followed by CIGNA (UnitedHealthcare was ranked highest in unfavorable opinion), based their rankings on such factors as image and reputation to detailed contract negotiation and claims processing issues. Insurers that have a consistent record of poor negotiations with hospital executives are more likely to force that hospital out of network, meaning significant disruption in care for employees forced to travel to a different hospital.

As employers grapple with choosing the most cost-effective insurance company, they’re waiting with baited breath to see how much of an impact health care reform proposals will have on their current health care strategies. According to a Hewitt Associates survey, 19 percent of respondents are planning to stop offering health benefits over the next three to five years, nearly five times as many as the 4 percent that said they were planning an exit strategy last year. ###