Member Survey Results. Each year Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) plans with 500 or more subscribers mail the Consumers Assessment of Health Plan Survey (CAHPS) to a random sample of plan members. For Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO)/Point-of-Service (POS) plans, the sample includes all commercial plan members, including non-Federal members. For Fee-for-Service (FFS)/Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plans, the sample includes Federal members only. The CAHPS survey consists of a set of standardized health plan performance measures that evaluate subscribers' satisfaction with their health plan. Independent vendors certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) administer the surveys.

Previously, OPM used symbols to indicate whether a plan's ratings on each of the CAHPS measures were: Average, Above Average, or Below Average compared to a national average. This year OPM is reporting each plan's scores on the various survey measures. We now show the percentage of satisfied subscribers on a scale of 0 to 100. Also, we list the national average for each measure. Since we offer both HMO plans and Fee-for-Service /PPO plans we compute a separate national average for each plan type.

Survey findings and member ratings are provided for the following key measures of member satisfaction:

• Overall Plan Satisfaction - This measure is based on the question, "Using any number from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst health plan possible and 10 is the best health plan possible, what number would you use to rate your health plan?" We report the percentage of respondents who rated their plan 8 or higher.
• Getting Needed Care - Were you satisfied with the choices your health plan gave you to select a personal doctor? Were you satisfied with the time it takes to get a referral to a specialist?
• Getting Care Quickly - Did you get the advice or help you needed when you called your doctor during regular office hours? Could you get an appointment when you wanted for regular or routine care?
• How Well Doctors Communicate - Did your doctor carefully listen to you and explain things in a way you could understand? Did your doctor spend enough time with you?
• Customer Service - Was your plan helpful when you called its customer service department? Did you have paperwork problems? Were the plan's written materials understandable?
• Claims Processing - Did your plan correctly pay your claims and in a reasonable time?

In evaluating plan scores, you can compare individual plan scores against other plans and against the national average for each plan type. Generally, new plans and those with fewer than 500 FEHB subscribers do not conduct CAHPS. Therefore, some of the plans listed in the Guide will not have survey data.