Elizabeth Rivelli is an insurance expert and freelance writer specializing in insurance and personal finance. Her work has been featured in major outlets like Investopedia, CNET and Bankrate, where she helps readers make confident decisions about car insurance, coverage options and financial planning.
John McCormick is an insurance expert and the editorial director for QuinStreet's insurance sites -- CarInsurance.com, Insurance.com and Insure.com. Before joining QuinStreet, he was a deputy editor at The Wall Street Journal and was an editor and reporter at several media outlets where he covered insurance, personal finance and technology.
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Highmark is an excellent health insurance provider to consider if you want to work with a company that provides great customer satisfaction. It’s No. 4 on Insure.com’s Best Health Insurance Companies list for 2025, earning 4.02 stars out of 5.
In our study of the top health insurance companies, Highmark earned an overall customer satisfaction score of 4.16 out of 5 stars. It also ranked well for policy offerings, low deductibles and ease of accessing policy documents.
In addition, 100% of survey respondents said they would recommend Highmark to other health insurance shoppers. The company received a strong National Committee for Quality Assurance rating– 3.7 out of 5 stars. NCQA evaluates healthcare plans on, among other things, member satisfaction.
Highmark scored decently overall in terms of cost, but we found that other companies rated higher for affordability. And Highmark only sells health insurance in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and West Virginia, so it’s not an option for most health insurance shoppers.
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.
Highmark’s health insurance plans are decent in terms of cost. In our study, however, Highmark was ranked sixth out of nine providers for price/affordability. Molina led this category with 4.54 stars out of 5.
The cost of health insurance from Highmark depends on the plan you purchase, as well as personal factors like your age and whether you smoke. Here are the average 2025 healthcare exchange rates for several plans in Pennsylvania for a 40-year-old male in excellent health with an annual salary of $70,000:
Highmark stands out for its superior customer satisfaction. In our study, Highmark received 4.16 out of 5 stars for customer satisfaction, the third-highest of the companies we ranked. Separately, Highmark’s Blue Cross Blue Shield plans received mixed reviews in J.D. Power’s latest U.S. Commercial Member Health Plan Study in several regions, however it did well in the Delaware-West Virginia-Washington, D.C., area.
Highmark has great policy offerings. In our survey, 84% of respondents said they were satisfied with the policies offered by the company. Molina led this category.
Yes, 100% of survey respondents said they would recommend Highmark to other people looking for health insurance. With great customer satisfaction and a high renewal rate, it makes sense why so many current customers would suggest Highmark to health insurance shoppers. Highmark took the top spot in this category.
More than 80% of Highmark customers said the company was trustworthy, putting it in the top half of this category. According to the survey, UnitedHealthcare is the most trusted health insurance provider.
More than three-quarters of Highmark’s customers said they plan to renew their policy. However, most other companies in our study scored better. Molina had the highest percentage of customers who said they would renew their policies with the company.
Highmark ranked in the second half in this category, which was led by Molina.
Highmark earned a pretty good score in this category. More than 77% of respondents said they were satisfied with Highmark’s low deductibles. 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. Molina was the highest scorer in this category.
Highmark ranked fifth out of nine insurance companies for its provider network. Of the customers we surveyed, 84% said they were satisfied with Highmark’s provider network, which is the group of doctors, specialists, and hospitals that provide discounted services to insured members. Elevance earned the best score in this category.
Highmark was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh. The company was formed when Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Blue Shield merged and became a single health insurance company under the name Highmark.
Over the past several decades, multiple Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates have joined Highmark, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware and Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Today, Highmark sells health insurance plans to roughly 7 million customers across four states: Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, and West Virginia.
Sources:
Healthcare.gov. “How insurance companies set health premiums.” Accessed March 2025.
J.D. Power. “Commercial Health Plan Member Satisfaction Declines in Key Areas.” J.D. Power Finds.” Accessed March 2025.
NAIC. “Highmark Inc National Complaint Index Report.” Accessed March 2025.
Highmark. “Our Story.” 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.