Consumer Empowerment
CIGNA Choice Fund® Puts You in Charge of Your Health Care
Spending
What a world we live in.
You have a family of five, like to bowl and are saving for a bigger house. Your coworker is single, owns a classic Mustang convertible and is training for your next marathon. And your boss is an avid antiques collector, getting ready to send her only son off to college. Different people. Different needs. Different choices.
So when it comes to decisions about health care benefits, our needs are as varied as our lifestyles. With one possible exception — we're all looking for more choice and more control in how our health care dollars are spent.
Through CIGNA Choice Fund®, CIGNA HealthCare may have the answer — for all of us. CIGNA Choice Fund is a consumer-driven health plan combining a high-deductible medical product (CIGNA HealthCare PPO or Open Access Plus) with on of two employer-funded plans:
- Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA); or
- Health Savings Account (HSA).
How the HRA Works
- Employees receive access to their account funds with a specific dollar limit and they use these funds to cover their eligible medical expenses, as determined by their employer.
- After this amount is spent, employees take on responsibility for their medical expenses up to the medical plan deductible.
- Then the traditional medical coverage takes over and pays for eligible expenses, excluding copayments and coinsurance.
In addition:
- The HRA can be integrated with a Flexible Spending Account and employees can use tax-free dollars to cover their eligible expenses, beyond their reimbursement account.
- Unused employee HRA funds may be rolled over to use in the next year.
- A comprehensive incentive plan can be designed to drive desired behavior changes by rewarding employees who utilize health risk assessments, Web tools and disease management programs.
How the HSA Works
- Employees receive access to their account funds with a specific dollar limit and they use these funds to cover their eligible medical expenses, as determined by their employer.
- After this amount is spent, employees take on responsibility for their medical expenses up to the medical plan deductible.
- Then the traditional medical coverage takes over and pays for eligible expenses, excluding copayments and coinsurance.
- For employees who end the year with unused funds, HSA funds may be rolled over to use in the next year.
There's no question that CIGNA Choice Fund will give you more flexibility and choice in how to use your health care benefits. But you'll also be glad to know that when employers include CIGNA Choice Fund in their benefit offerings, they'll find opportunities to more effectively control company costs without sacrificing important employee benefits. And with today's rising health care costs, that's something everyone can appreciate.
The challenges of the 21st century are here. So are the solutions, if you consider CIGNA Choice Fund.
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