About PlainInsurer

PlainInsurer makes it easy to find and compare insurance company complaint ratios, claim denial rates, and prior authorization data, all from public government sources, presented clearly and for free.

Our Data

All data comes directly from official U.S. government and regulatory sources:

• NAIC MCAS 2024: Market Conduct Annual Statement from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, complaint ratios, justified complaints, and complaint scores for 215 insurers across all 50 states + DC.
• CMS Transparency in Coverage PUF PY2026: Claim denial rates from 145 health insurance issuers reporting for plan year 2026, downloaded from CMS at download.cms.gov/marketplace-puf.
• CMS Medicare Advantage Analysis: Prior authorization request, denial, and appeal data from CMS OIG OEI-09-22-00380 and KFF 2023 MA analysis.

Our Grades

We assign A–F reputation grades to insurance companies based on a composite score combining:

• Complaint ratio (vs. industry median)
• Claim denial rate (where available)
• Prior authorization denial rate (for health and Medicare Advantage plans)

Grades are relative rankings within the insurer population, they do not reflect legal standing, financial strength, or coverage quality. A high complaint ratio does not necessarily indicate illegal behavior.

Methodology

We download raw data from the NAIC CIS consumer portal, CMS data.healthcare.gov, and published CMS OIG reports. Our ETL pipeline standardizes insurer names, assigns slugs, computes composite scores, and grades companies on a bell-curve distribution. No data is modified, extrapolated, or editorialized.

Data Currency

PlainInsurer currently displays data from the NAIC MCAS 2024 release and CMS Transparency in Coverage PUF PY2026. NAIC releases updated MCAS data annually (typically Q3). CMS publishes updated Transparency in Coverage data annually. We update our database within 30 days of each new data release.

Like all regulatory data, there is an inherent lag between the reporting period and publication. Complaint ratios and denial rates reflect the most recent complete reporting year. Insurer behavior may have changed since the reference period, always verify current policies and complaint procedures directly with the insurer or your state insurance department.

Important Disclaimer

PlainInsurer is for informational purposes only and does not constitute insurance, financial, or legal advice. Data comes from public regulatory sources and is presented as-is. While we strive for accuracy, we cannot guarantee completeness. Always verify important coverage decisions with your insurer, a licensed agent, or a qualified attorney.

Not Affiliated

PlainInsurer is not affiliated with NAIC, CMS, or any government agency. We are an independent data portal providing public information in a more accessible format.

Our Mission

PlainInsurer exists because consumers choosing insurance companies deserve access to objective regulatory data, not just marketing materials and curated reviews. Insurance is one of the most consequential financial products a person buys, yet most consumers make selection decisions based on advertising, agent recommendations, or employer-provided options without access to the regulatory data that reveals how companies actually treat their policyholders.

We combine complaint data from the NAIC and claims denial rates from CMS to produce transparent A-through-F reputation grades for every major insurer. Our goal is to give policyholders the data they need to make informed decisions. Everything on PlainInsurer is free, requires no account, and is funded through advertising. We believe that regulatory data collected by government agencies should be accessible to the consumers it is meant to protect.

Editorial Independence

PlainInsurer is published by Kiznis Studio, an independent data-engineering studio (solo-operated). Content on PlainInsurer is compiled from public source data. Raw data from the NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners), state insurance departments, and CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) is transformed into readable profiles by our automated pipeline, then checked against the source before publication. PlainInsurer is responsible for its methodology, corrections process, and source documentation.

No insurer, broker, agent, or carrier we track pays for placement, sponsorship, or coverage on PlainInsurer: the grades are not for sale. The site is funded by contextual display ads from Google AdSense, and advertising has no bearing on which companies appear, how their grades are calculated, or where they land in a ranking.

Contact

For questions, corrections, or feedback, email hello@plaininsurer.com.

We welcome:

• Questions about data sources or methodology
• Reports of apparent data errors or insurer misidentification
• Suggestions for additional metrics or features
• Media and research inquiries