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"The Big Picture" Newsletter
September 2006
Message From
Brad Miller – Chief Underwriting Officer,
CIGNA HealthCare
CIGNA's primary focus is to improve the health
and well-being of our members, thereby improving
workplace productivity and reducing medical costs
for employers. Through consultative engagement,
CIGNA HealthCare works with you to choose plans
that will fit an employer’s benefits and
financial strategy, while encouraging employees
to live a healthy lifestyle and make well-informed
health decisions.
(Continue >>)
Latest News
CIGNA announces online enrollment
Offering includes life management
and plan selection tools for 2007
Enrollment season is upon us, and with
it comes that daunting challenge of enrollment
administration. To help simplify the process,
save time, and increase the accuracy of
data, CIGNA is introducing a
suite of consumer benefit solutions,
including CIGNA Online Enrollment and
ongoing life event management capabilities
– available to all employers
with 200 or more employees for January
1, 2007. Also available will be CIGNA
Plan SelectorSM,
which combines the ease and convenience
of online enrollment with tools to help
employees choose the health benefits plan
that’s best for them.
Behavioral care providers enjoy simplified
credentialing
CIGNA Behavioral Health uses
CAQH credentialing tool to
save time, reduce costs
Provider credentialing can be a costly,
time-consuming process
– one that also poses a challenge
in ensuring consistent, accurate data.
To save time and help improve the quality
of provider data, CIGNA Behavioral Health (CBH)
now uses CAQH’s Universal
Credentialing DataSource® (UCD)
in the credentialing process for its national
provider network. Using the UCD-based system,
CBH providers can enter their information
into a single source that supports all
the credentialing efforts. The UCD
application meets all related Utilization
Review Accreditation Committee (URAC),
National Committee for Quality Assurance
(NCQA) and Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) standards.
Product Spotlight
CIGNA HealthCare’s
Starbridge products meet an emerging market
need
Provide health benefits for
America’s working uninsured
At CIGNA HealthCare, we understand the needs
of the working uninsured. Our Starbridge
product suite was designed specifically
to fit the needs of part-time and hourly employees
or other employee classes that are typically
not eligible for medical coverage. Research
has shown that the most important product features
for the working uninsured are cost and access.
Those two considerations are the key drivers
of our Starbridge limited-benefit plans.
CIGNA Behavioral Health honored as 2006
Best Overall EAP
Second consecutive year winning Business
Insurance Readers Choice Award
CIGNA Behavioral Health has been selected
for the second consecutive year as the “Best
Overall EAP” in the Business
Insurance magazine Readers Choice Awards.
Chosen from among ten of the largest EAP companies
in the country, we were recognized for our
long-term commitment to quality, service and
innovation.
The Business Insurance Readers Choice
Awards recognize the industry’s top leaders
in categories relating to risk management and
employee benefits. Winners were selected
through confidential balloting of magazine
subscribers and are highlighted in the August
21 magazine edition, along with  CIGNA
Behavioral Health's winning profile (278k).
Stop loss options help protect, optimize cash
flow
CIGNA products ensure rate
predictability and manage risk for
self-funded clients
High-dollar claims can be devastating for
clients with self-funded plans, especially
when those claims are likely to continue for
certain employees. CIGNA offers two creative
stop loss plan options – Renewal
Planner prevents lasering and protects
against rate increases, and Tiered
Pooling allows clients to select pooling
points between which CIGNA and the client share
the risk.
Technology Update
New Tool Enables Consumers to Compare Dental
Plans and Costs
CIGNA Dental Plan Cost Estimator
shows potential savings based on preferences
and treatments
The Dental Plan Cost Estimator (PCE)
from CIGNA Dental is a comprehensive,
pre-enrollment tool that enables prospective
members to review and compare costs for two
or more CIGNA dental plan options. PCE helps
consumers select the plan that best suits their
dental and financial needs through a powerful
suite of capabilities, including the ability
to enter personal profiles, treatments or procedures,
and then see the corresponding impact on out-of-pocket
costs.
Regional News
What's happening locally
CIGNA HealthCare news for your area
Get the latest CIGNA HealthCare news for your part of the country. Every month, we post new articles of interest and update the states to which they apply. Here's where you'll also find up-to-date local contact information to help you with your questions and concerns. Want to know the news for your area? Find out here.
(NOTE: States with new articles
of special interest are highlighted in blue.)
Health Care News
and Trends
New report shows benefits of integrating
medical and disability data
Analysis can help employers better
manage health, medical treatment and disability
The Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI)
recently released an in-depth analysis of an integrated
medical and disability database that revealed
several significant relationships between
medical episodes and disability cases,
including lost productivity expenses, and increased
costs for absences with multiple medical conditions.
IBI noted that such databases can be a powerful
tool for employers to better manage employee
health, medical treatment and disability. This
type of analysis is unusual outside workers’ compensation,
in that benefits for non-work-related disability
and medical care traditionally are managed
in separate databases, both by employers and
their benefits suppliers. For more information,
visit IBI’s
website or read this one-page
summary (36k) which provides key findings
from IBI’s full study.
"CIGNA" or "CIGNA HealthCare" refers to various operating subsidiaries of CIGNA Corporation. Products and services are provided by these subsidiaries and not by CIGNA Corporation. These subsidiaries include Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Tel-Drug, Inc. and its affiliates, CIGNA Behavioral Health, Inc., Intracorp, and HMO or service company subsidiaries of CIGNA Health Corporation and CIGNA Dental Health, Inc.
In Arizona, HMO Plans are offered by CIGNA HealthCare of Arizona, Inc. In California, HMO plans are offered by CIGNA HealthCare of California, Inc. In Virginia, HMO plans are offered by CIGNA HealthCare of Virginia, Inc. and CIGNA HealthCare Mid-Atlantic, Inc. In North Carolina, HMO plans are offered by CIGNA HealthCare of North Carolina, Inc. All other medical plans in these states are insured or administered by Connecticut General Life Insurance Company.
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