Quality is the most important factor for employers when evaluating health plans, according to new report from the watchdog organization, The Leapfrog Group.

"We were a little surprised at how clearly the findings showed that employers care first and foremost about quality of care," says Leah Binder, the group's president and CEO. "They want results. The report points to specific issues that appear to disappoint employers and what successful health plans do to earn their trust."

Employers have been critical of health plans since Leapfrog conducted the same survey in 2020. When asked to assign letter grades to their health plan based on its ability to provide high-quality health care to employees, most employers gave their plans a "C" grade, although there was considerable variation among plans. The average grade given to health plans was slightly worse than in 2020, decreasing from a 2.57 GPA to 2.29, which demonstrates significant room for growth across all categories surveyed.