Healthfirst Reviews

3.5

58% would recommend to a friend

(1,087 total reviews)

Pat Wang

71% approve of CEO

49% positive business outlook

Healthfirst has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 1,087 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Healthfirst employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Insurance industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

1K reviews
1.0
26 Dec 2015

Fear, Loathing, and Sexism

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Free coffee. That's about it. There are some talented, good-natured, and solid people here. Unfortunately, they are in the minority.

Cons

When I first began working here, the fear and paranoia was palpable. Unfortunately, in most offices these days, this is the rule rather than the exception--and the working environment at Healthfirst has an almost Cold War quality to it. After you get used to this, then you have to deal with favoritism, incompetence, dishonesty, and gossip. A number of reviewers here have mentioned racism--and it is a problem at HF. But sexism is also rampant--especially in the Marketing Department. If you summon the courage to complain to Human Resources, it is utterly futile. HR is useless. Upper management is entrenched in bias, incompetence, and a deep seeded desire to be surrounded by "yes" men. Clever, bold ideas are rejected on a regular basis. Originality is discouraged. Just look at any of Healthfirst's boring print ads ("Hardworking Insurance for Hardworking New Yorkers". Seriously?) or amateurish television commercials, and you'll see what I mean. If you are a talented writer or graphic designer with new ideas and, God forbid, a sense of humor, this is NOT the place for you. Because at Healthfirst, mediocrity is the rule of the day.

2.0
21 Mar 2016

Lacks integrity

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Fair wages and benefits. Employees can work from home sometimes. Good 401k. Company is growing. I worked with really great people.

Cons

Senior management has different rules than the rest of the staff. They implemented a calibration process for performance reviews and say that the bell curve is a target, not forced, yet managers are forced to lower team member ratings to meet the curve. What is ridiculous is that all senior staff but one were given "exceeds standards". Wondering how that bell curve looks? They should really take a look at who can see performance ratings. Their security is a joke and many people have access to see this that should not. Also a very high level management person was caught on surveillance having sex at the office with an employee. Both are still employed and have since been promoted. Sickening. They call themselves Trailblazers but it is all words. They don't walk the walk and talk the talk.

1.0
6 Jul 2017

Toxic mess

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Coworkers, office neighborhood, the company's mission

Cons

You have an out-of-touch CEO who's more interested in making long-winded internal videos in which she condescends to us like we're children. You have executives who know less than their direct reports, and who lie to their managers about what they know. One executive spends most of his time on Skype talking to friends and relatives. Another who watches YouTube videos all day long. Another who puts together PowerPoints that no one asks for, on topics that aren't important. You have egotistical maniacs at the middle and upper management level, who are allowed to give their input on processes about which they know nothing. There's so much jockeying for power. So much. And in between jockeying for power and playing these games, some of these folks forget they have an actual job to do. You have poor processes all around. You have a lack of investment in real infrastructure and technology that would help the company grow. Just look at the reviews on Yelp. The foray into the commercial market was a disaster thanks to the lack of systems to support that kind of growth. They do not value, nor understand, technology, and they're going to get clobbered in the marketplace because of it. You have favoritism galore. One person is so highly favored that she's been promoted multiple times over just a few years, all while being detested by her colleagues for her nastiness, being terrible at her actual job, and having no identifiable skills. But, she's gone out for drinks with her bosses and cozied up to people who mattered, so they protect her despite multiple complaints. You have a completely unethical review process. You're reviewed by your colleagues, your boss, and any direct reports you have. Fair, right? Well, it would be, except that everything those people say about you is then reviewed in a room with 20+ OTHER PEOPLE WHO DO NOT KNOW YOU OR YOUR JOB. Those people are allowed to weigh in on whether you need improvement, meet expectations, or exceed expectations. They then use everyone's input to place you somewhere on a *BELL CURVE* (yes, the measurement of human capability that has since been thoroughly debunked). Oh! Also! Those 20+ people who weighed in on your job? They get to see what everyone said about you, but you, yourself, don't. You have a culture that focuses on the wrong things.There is no better example of this than the fact that they spent millions on consultants to come up with a terrible metaphor that they push on every employee: TRAILBLAZER. "Are you being a trailblazer?" "Can you recite the trailblazer culture drivers?" They spent so much money coming up with an internal campaign for employees based on a hiking/mountain metaphor. For city dwellers. Who service other city dwellers. Yet they never spent the money to fix *major* billing and enrollment issues for our customers before entering the commercial market. Also, the NYC office is battling a bed bug problem. There are *smart,* wonderful people here who will never be valued for their contributions, and who will never flourish or grow. They will leave, snatched up by better companies doing better things. Those who stay are often depressed, cynical, and hopeless. To use their own metaphor: don't blaze this trail.

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Glassdoor has 1,168 Healthfirst reviews submitted anonymously by Healthfirst employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Healthfirst is right for you.