The Blues vary a lot from state to state. In Maryland, CareFirst - the Maryland affiliate of Blue Cross/Blue Shield - does a much better job than any of the other health insurance providers that I've worked with or my brokers have worked with for small group health health insurance.
Some of the other insurers here include MAMSI (Optimum Choice), which was bought by United HealthCare, Aetna, Coventry, and a few others. I have direct experience with some of these, and have been warned away concerning others from my brokers, because the others are even worse.
There are companies that offer insurance that provide better coverage and are easier to work with, less bureaucratic, etc. But these are policies for folks who are very well-off. I believe that Guardian still offers policies in Maryland. Absolutely first-rate insurance. But the last time I checked a couple of years ago, they cost over $30,000 per year for a family policy.
But without getting into these very high-priced policies, in Maryland, CareFirst is about as good as it ordinarily gets.
sitetest
They suck here in Texas and have always sucked.