When choosing an insurance provider, it’s always best to be informed, not just about the plans offered, but the company itself. Aetna, Inc. and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans are two companies that offer health insurance.
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Aetna, Inc
Aetna Life & Casualty was founded in 1850 as a holding company that sold life insurance. Over the years the company diversified into selling other types of insurance. In 1996, Aetna Life & Casualty merged with US Healthcare and changed its name to Aetna, Inc. Aetna is a publicly traded, for-profit Fortune 100 corporation. Its stock exchange ticker symbol is AET.
The company is active in politics and lobbying. According to the website, OpenSecrets.org, Aetna spent 2 million dollars in 2009 on lobbying members of Congress. The company is listed on Open Secrets.org as one of the top 20 contributors to Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
Aetna’s primary function is to sell health insurance with a focus toward employer groups, individuals, students, and Medicare recipients.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is a non-profit fraternal benefit society. A fraternal benefit society is a group that is formed to provide benefits to its members such as mutual aid or insurance. Examples of fraternal benefit societies are credit unions, trade unions, and groups such as the Freemasons and the Knights of Columbus. Fraternal benefit societies can be exempt from certain state insurance regulations. Thrivent is a fraternal benefit society for members of the Lutheran Church.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans began in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1902 as Aid Association for Lutherans. In 2001, Aid Association for Lutherans merged with the Lutheran Brotherhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota and became known under its current name.
Health insurance is only one service Thrivent offers. The company also sells life insurance, auto insurance, homeowners insurance, and fantastic business insurance, as well as banking , financial and retirement planning services. The company’s health insurance offerings are geared towards individuals and families.
Types of Insurance Offered
Both Aetna and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans offer major medical insurance, Medicare supplemental insurance, disability insurance, and life insurance. Both offer paperless options. Both offer them for sale to individuals. However, the companies differ in the following areas.
- Aetna offers insurance to employer groups, while Thrivent does not.
- Aetna also offers dental and vision insurance, while Thrivent does not.
- Thrivent offers short term medical insurance to those who may be unemployed or between permanent insurance coverage.
- Aetna does not offer coverage in all fifty states for individual insurance, in spite of what some insurance ratings websites indicate. Health insurance offerings through Thrivent depend upon what type of brokerage agreement Thrivent has with a particular state.
- Aetna offers health expense funding accounts such as flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts. However, this is offered through employer sponsored health insurance plans only. While Thrivent also offers health savings accounts, you will not find this information listed under insurance on their website. Thrivent considers this a banking service.
- Aetna has an interactive website that helps the customer find health care providers in plan, compare costs between providers, and helps consumers make informed choices about cost.
- Aetna also offers wellness programs and discounts on wellness products such as gym memberships. Among their programs is a 24 hour Informed Health line, where customers can have their questions answered by a nurse.
- Thrivent’s services are offered only to those who meet certain membership criteria. You must be Lutheran or associated with a Lutheran organization to join Thrivent.
- Aetna offers pharmacy coverage that includes the option of purchasing a 90 day supply of your prescription medication through mail order.
Customer Satisfaction and Ratings
AM Best, a credit rating company for the insurance industry, has rated both companies. In 2011, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans received an A++, or superior rating, from AM Best. The A++ rating means the company is in excellent shape to meet its financial obligations. Aetna received an A rating from AM Best, meaning the company has a stable outlook for meeting its financial obligations.
The National Committee for Quality Assurance, a non-profit agency that rates health insurance companies on their service, has given Aetna ratings in the range from the lowest rating of “accredited” to highest rating of “excellent”. Because insurance is sold and regulated on a state by state basis, Aetna received rankings by each state in which it is available. There were four criteria that were used to determine the overall rank: Access and Service, Qualified Providers, Staying Healthy (preventative care), Getting Better, and Living with Illness. NCQA ratings are also used to determine Consumer Reports annual insurance provider rankings as well as being used as the industry standard since the mid-1990s.
However, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans was not listed in the NCQA’s database under that name. This is because Thrivent sells insurance rather than underwrites the insurance and NCQA is concerned with insurance providers. It is always a good practice to check for NCQA accreditation when shopping for health insurance. This information is available to the public on the NCQA’s official website, NCQA.com.
Aetna was generally ranked “average” by JD Power and Associates. Rankings were done by region. Thrivent was not ranked by JD Power, due to it being a fraternal organization.
Very Different Companies With Similar Goals
Aetna and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans are very different companies that offer some of the same services. Thrivent is a faith based fraternal organization that has insurance as one of its many offerings, while Aetna is a large corporation that focuses solely on insurance. Regardless of the company, it is important to evaluate your own particular needs and choose the company that will best meet that criteria.
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