Which carrier offers the best group health coverage?

Anthem/Blue Cross Blue Shield – winner

What Starbucks is to coffee, Anthem/BCBS is to group health care. So that might go a long way toward explaining the ubiquitous carrier's regulatory troubles. The only attention they seem to get from the mainstream press – or anywhere in California – is sensational headlines about outrageous rate increases or dramatic stories of denied claims.

But brokers don't believe the hype. For the third year in a row, Anthem/BCBS runs away with this category, setting the carrier standard for group health. Whether it's by default or through a genuine effort at superior service, Anthem still emerges as the clear market leader.

UnitedHealthcare – honorable mention

For another unsurprising result, UnitedHealthcare is still viewed as a leading provider of overall group health care. And this year, they've got the numbers to back 'em up. Though health care use climbed at a slower rate than usual this year in part due to a slumping economy reining in utilizations, United's most recent quarter earnings rose a whopping 13 percent. The group's enrollment hike of 5 percent compared to last year's second quarter contributed to an 8 percent jump in revenue from UnitedHealthCare.