Aetna, which ranked well in a number of Insure.com survey categories, took third place on Insure.com’s 2025 Best Health Insurance Companies list – earning 4.10 stars out of 5.
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Aetna, No. 3 on our list of the Best Health Insurance Companies, is worth considering if you’re looking for an insurance provider with a big coverage area. The company, which is part of CVS Health, was ranked highly in a number of categories in our survey of insurance consumers, such as for its provider network and not needing referrals. Additionally, Aetna scored in the top half of companies for affordability.
In our review of Aetna, the company received an above-average 3.43 out of 5 stars from the National Committee for Quality Assurance. NCQA evaluates healthcare plans on, among other things, member satisfaction.
Aetna also received a solid complaint index score from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, 0.26. The NAIC ranks insurers by the number of customer complaints they receive. A market average is 1.0, and anything less indicates the carrier receives fewer complaints than typical for a company its size.
Aetna, according to an American Medical Association report released in December 2024, is tied with Elevance Health as the nation’s second-largest health insurer. Both have a 12% market share. UnitedHealthcare is the largest health insurer, with 15% of the market.
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.
AM Best's Financial Strength Rating is an independent opinion of an insurer's financial strength and ability to meet its ongoing insurance policy and contract obligations.
Aetna ranked in the top half of companies for affordability, but other insurers in our ranking did a bit better. Molina took the top spot in this category.
Below is a look at how Aetna’s rates in Georgia compare with those of Elevance and Cigna for similar HMO plans. These are 2025 healthcare exchange rates for a single, 40-year-old male in excellent health with an annual income of $70,000.
Aetna does a good job at delivering customer satisfaction – earning about 4 stars in this category. Still, it trailed many other top-rated companies, including Kaiser Permanente and UnitedHealthcare, in this category.
However, the company did well in J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Commercial Member Health Plan Study in certain regions. Aetna was rated above average for overall customer satisfaction in the Delaware-West Virginia-Washington, D.C. region, the East-South-Central region, South Atlantic region, and in Ohio and Virginia. Below is a look at how the company stacks up against other big health insurers.
Aetna has a larger portfolio of policy offerings. About 84% of customers say they were satisfied. Molina was the top-ranked company here.
Yes, with 85% of customers saying they would recommend the company to others. However, several companies ranked higher. Highmark led this category, with all its customers saying they would recommend it to others.
Most customers believe Aetna can be trusted. It received an 83% approval rating in this category – one of the highest rankings. UnitedHealthcare led this category.
The vast majority do. When customers were asked if they planned to renew with Aetna, about 87% said they would. But several companies ranked higher in this category, which was led by Molina and UnitedHealthcare.
Aetna ranked in the bottom half of the digital experience category, but still more than 80% of customers said they were satisfied with the company’s online and mobile capabilities. Molina earned the top spot in this category.
Aetna doesn’t have the lowest deductibles. It scored similarly to Highmark and Kaiser Permanente. Molina was the winner in this category. A deductible is the amount of money you have to pay out-of-pocket for health care services before your health insurance plan begins to pay.
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. Aetna scored near the top of this category — the only insurer that scored better was Elevance.
Aetna is one of the largest health insurance providers in the country and also one of the oldest. Its history traces back to the Aetna Fire Insurance Co., which was established in the early 1800s.
It began offering health insurance in 1899 and in 1907 expanded into the growing arena of automobile insurance. It continued to grow over the years, acquiring various companies, and in 1999 it purchased Prudential HealthCare.
In 2017, Aetna became an acquisition target itself, with CVS successfully launching a $69 billion bid for the company. The merger provided an avenue to direct a steady stream of clients to the pharmacy giant’s drug stores.
It serves about 39 million people with its health insurance offerings.
Atena website “Aetna” and CVS Health “CVS Health” corporate information. Accessed March 2025.
Insure.com in the fall of 2024 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:
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:
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.
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.