Last week Cigna Healthcare was notified that it will not be allowed to sell any more Medicare Advantage or Medicare part D plans until further notice. The complaints previously filed about the services that were not approved and the prescriptions not allowed by the carrier were reviewed by the Federal authorities and deemed to be serious enough that no more sales will be allowed for now. Cigna has already started to address the various issues charged, but changes will take some time to implement.
What does this mean to us?
- If we were planning to enroll in a Cigna Medicare product we will need to look at other options.
- If we are currently enrolled in a Cigna Medicare plan we do not need to change anything, but if we wish to we will be given the opportunity to change carriers. We will need to determine when the special enrollment window will open and be prepared with our alternate options.
- If we are enrolled in a Medicare plan with another insurance carrier and we feel that we are not being treated properly we should take heart. The complaints against Cigna seem to have revolved around them inappropriately denying coverage to seniors. It seems that when complaints are filed properly someone is actually addressing them. I have no idea how many complaints were filed and how significant they were, but there was action taken. This has historically not been the case with many consumer grievances.
- Other insurance carriers have been sanctioned in this way before and, after fixing the problems addressed, they were able to come back into the market and provide services again. This seems to be an ongoing issue and it appears that the system monitors carriers for the consumer.
So, let’s show initiative and voice legitimate complaints when appropriate. It seems that there is a chance that someone may actually be watching over us. Now wouldn’t that be a nice change…..
Questions? Need Help? Confused? Call us at Czajkowski Dumpel & Associates, Inc. – We are here to help you!