Health insurance has become an interesting topic in the United States over the past few years. One of Barack Obama’s top priorities as President has been to provide health care to all Americans. This idea of universal health care has met its followers and its naysayers. Many say it will cost the government too much money, while others say it will increase the overall welfare and well being of Americans. As it stands, mostly private companies run the health care industry. The top five health insurance providers are UnitedHealthCare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, CIGNA Corp. and Aetna. These companies are consistently in the top ten in terms of revenue and have built quite the name for themselves in the industry.

UnitedHealthCare was created by the United Health Group in 1977. They are headquartered in Minnetonka, MN. They are a major provider of health care in the United States, they reported $4.6 billion in income in 2010. They have received a number of awards such as highest employer satisfaction for self-insured plans as well as high grades from the AMA (American Medical Association). This makes them one of the best health insurance providers available.

Blue Cross Blue Shield combines 39 separate insurance providers into one overlying provider. Blue Shield was created in 1948, while Blue Cross followed in 1960 and the two merged in 1982. They brought in $320.5 million in revenue in 2008 and are widely considered one of the best health insurance providers. They began as a non-profit organization, but have moved on from that because of their commercial status. They consist of well-known providers such as Wellpoint, which is Blue Cross Blue Shield’s largest provider.

Humana was founded in 1961 in Louisville, Kentucky and the headquarters remain there today. They reported massive revenues of $33.2 billion in 2010. They have a customer base of well over 11.5 million people in the US and over 25,000 employees. They have been the source of controversy over the years, but clearly provide excellent services as seen by their huge base of customers. They have recently begun a prescription home delivery service named RightSourceRX. This has been a huge development for elderly people who have a tough time getting to the pharmacy on their own. The home delivery service filled their 500,000 prescription in 2008.

CIGNA was founded when CG and INA merged in 1982. They are headquartered in Connecticut, but have a full service HMO in the Phoenix, AZ area. They have an operating income of $1.3 billion (2009). They like other HMO’s have been in the middle of some controversy over profits in the past, but they have contributed a lot of charitable giving in the community and they were recently named as having the best customer service at call centers by JD Power for the fourth straight year.

Aetna like CIGNA is based out of Connecticut. Eliphalet A. Bulkeley founded the company in 1853. They like the other top insurance providers have a huge revenue stream of $34.8 billion (2009). An interesting public apology recently was sent out by Aetna for issuing life insurance to slave-owners for their slaves pre-civil war. Regardless of the past, Aetna is now in the Fortune 100 and is one of the largest health insurance providers in the United States covering a wide range of benefits from medical and dental to pharmaceutical and disability plans.

In no particular order UnitedHealthCare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, CIGNA and Aetna are the top five insurance providers. The debate over health insurance providers will continue as the next Presidential election nears. Some believe that spending needs to be cut and the new health care plan made by the government would be a dramatic increase in the spending. A few large players run the current health care system with massive revenue streams, as noted earlier. These companies do not want to see a universal health care system because it would de-capitalize health care and decrease profits overall. These current health insurance providers benefit from the capitalist system in which they can continue to increase their profits. The five mentioned here are the best because they cover the most people and they have been ranked highly by different reviewers. This is why most of Americans trust them in the current system.