Health insurance decisions involve a lot of factors, including weighing coverage options, provider networks, cost, and familiarity with a brand.
While many Americans receive their health benefits from their employer, retired Americans aged 65+ may be selecting their own plans through Medicare. Low-income Americans may be selecting their own plans through Medicaid, and U.S. adults who are self-employed or want different coverage options than they have available through their jobs will purchase health insurance policies for themselves.
Drawing on YouGov BrandIndex data covering more than 25,000 U.S. respondents, our 2026 health insurance rankings highlight the brands leading on consideration and unveil how consideration for these health insurance brands has shifted from 2025.
Which health insurance brands lead on consideration?
Blue Cross Blue Shield ranks first in the health insurance rankings, with 18.8% of the U.S. general population considering the brand. UnitedHealthcare follows at 14.4%, while Humana ranks third at 10.4%.
Which personal care and beauty brands are most considered?
Dove (skin care) ranks first in YouGov’s U.S. personal care and beauty brand rankings 2026, with 48.9% of U.S. adults saying they would consider the brand the next time they are in the market.
Aetna takes fourth place at 10.0%, followed by Cigna at 8.4%. Anthem Blue Cross (7.8%), AARP Medicare Plans from UnitedHealthcare (6.7%), Kaiser Permanente (5.5%), Blue Shield of California (3.3%) and eHealth (2.0%) round out the top 10.
These brands represent a variety of health insurance organizations: national and regional plans, a co-branded Medicare offering and eHealth, an online insurance marketplace. This highlights the assortment of coverage types that Americans consider when they have to purchase their own health coverage.
How has consideration for these brands changed since last year?
Despite shaky perceptions around the health insurance industry in the past year, most change in consideration across the brand ecosystem was negligible. Kaiser Permanente recorded the largest year-over-year consideration gain in the health insurance rankings, rising 1.1 percentage points. UnitedHealthcare followed with a 1.0-point increase, while Blue Shield of California and Blue Cross Blue Shield each gained 0.7 points when rounded.
Cigna and Anthem Blue Cross each rose 0.6 points, while Humana increased by 0.5 points. The gains extended across both higher- and lower-ranked brands: UnitedHealthcare ranked second in the 2026 ranking, whereas Kaiser Permanente ranked eighth.
Some brands also recorded declines. AARP Medicare Plans from UnitedHealthcare fell 1.4 percentage points, the largest decrease in the group. Aetna slipped 0.1 points, while eHealth maintained its Consideration score from last year.
Which health insurance brands stand out on Value and Quality?
Value and Quality metrics offer a better understanding of how everyday consumers feel about these brands.
Blue Cross Blue Shield records the highest net Value score at 8.3 and highest net Quality score at 22.5, leading on both perception measures.
Humana follows in a distant second place in Value with a net score of 3.2, narrowly ahead of AARP Medicare Plans from UnitedHealthcare (3.1) and eHealth (2.8). Aetna records a Value score of 2.1.
Looking at Quality, Aetna ranks second with a net score of 9.7, closely followed by Humana (9.7). Cigna and Anthem Blue Cross each record a net score of 7.4 when rounded. UnitedHealthcare, which ranks second in Consideration, records a net Quality score of 6.1 and a net Value score of −0.8, which is the lowest Value result among these brands.
Methodology
This article draws on YouGov BrandIndex collected from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026.
The year-over-year comparison uses October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025 and October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026.
The Consideration, Value and Quality analyses cover U.S. adults. The current-period minimum base is n> 25,120; the previous-period Consideration comparison has a minimum base of n> 25,440.
Consideration is reported as the percentage of respondents who would consider a brand when acquiring an insurance policy. Value and Quality are net scores based on positive and negative brand perceptions. The scatterplot uses Consideration to determine bubble size. Figures are rounded to one decimal place.
Metric questions:
- Consideration: When you are in the market next to acquire a new insurance policy (e.g., health, life, auto, home owners), from which of the following would you consider acquiring a new policy?
- Value (Net): Which of the following insurance carriers do you think represents good or poor value for money?
- Quality (Net): Which of the following insurance carriers do you think represents good or poor quality?
Disclosure: The data analysis in this article was conducted by YouGov with the assistance of AI tools.
About YouGov BrandIndex
YouGov BrandIndex is an always-on brand tracking tool that measures consumer perceptions of thousands of brands across sectors and markets. It helps marketers monitor brand health, benchmark competitors, identify audience-specific strengths and weaknesses, and understand how perceptions change over time.
Explore more health insurance brand data
Consideration is one view of health insurance brand perception. For many, health insurance is provided by an employer, removing individual consideration. BrandIndex also includes current customer data – offering deeper insight into the leading brands based on customer volume and satisfaction. YouGov BrandIndex can help frame deeper questions about competitor benchmarks, brand perception and changes over time, where suitable data are available. To discuss these findings or explore a relevant comparison, request a YouGov BrandIndex briefing.
