Cigna Medicare Supplement Insurance 2022 Review
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Cigna is the fourth-largest insurer in the country [1]. The company offers Medicare Supplement Insurance, or Medigap, in 48 states and Washington, D.C.
Cigna offers Medigap Plan A, Plan G and Plan N for any Medicare member, plus Plan F for those who qualify. The company's premiums aren't the lowest, but it devotes a higher-than-average percentage of those premiums to member benefits.
Here's what you should know about Cigna Medicare Supplement Insurance.
Cigna Medicare supplement pros and cons
Cigna's Medigap offerings have advantages and disadvantages.
Pros | Cons |
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Available Medicare supplement plans
Here are the Medicare Supplement Insurance plans Cigna offers for any Medicare member:
Medigap Plan A — the basic benefits included in every Medigap plan without any extras.
Medigap Plan N — a plan with lower premiums but higher copays.
Medigap Plan G — the highest-coverage option available to new Medicare members.
Cigna also offers Medigap Plan F and the high-deductible version of Plan F for individuals who were first eligible for Medicare before 2020. Unfortunately, newer Medicare members can't buy these plans from any insurer.
In addition, Cigna offers plans in Minnesota and Wisconsin that fit each state's respective standards. (Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin don't use the same Medigap standardization system as the rest of the country.)
Additional benefits
Medigap plans are standardized, but companies can offer extras on top of the Medicare benefits. Here are a few extra perks available to Cigna Medicare Supplement Insurance beneficiaries:
Discount program: Cigna's Healthy Rewards program offers discounts to some members on fitness and nutrition programs, wellness products, and vision, hearing and alternative medicine services.
Health information line: Members can call 24/7 to speak to health advocates, all of whom are licensed nurses.
Mobile app: Members can access ID cards, coverage details, claims and other information in English and Spanish from the myCigna mobile app.
Cigna Medicare Supplement Insurance service area
Cigna offers Medicare Supplement Insurance plans in Washington, D.C., and every state except for Massachusetts and New York.
Cigna covers about 534,000 Medicare Supplement Insurance beneficiaries and has a market share of about 3.5% [2].
Cost
The following price quotes were obtained for three states representing above-average, average and below-average costs for Medicare Supplement Insurance, when compared across all plans and providers using pricing data from Medicare.gov [3]:
Colorado: More expensive than average.
North Carolina: Average cost for the U.S.
Ohio: Less expensive than average.
The sections below show pricing information from Cigna for a 65-year-old female nonsmoker and reflect "base" pricing with discounts removed or factored out whenever the option was available. (Note: Some Medigap prices may be higher for males.)
For comparison, the table for each plan also includes the price for the least-expensive option to buy the same plan from other providers, based on information from Medicare.gov. For example, Cigna's price for Medigap Plan A in Fort Collins, Colorado, appears alongside the lowest price on Medicare.gov for all Plan A policies available in Fort Collins to an applicant with identical demographics.
Plan A
On average, Cigna's quoted premiums for Medigap Plan A were about 94% higher than the least expensive Plan A policy in the area.
Cigna-quoted price | Medicare.gov lowest price | |
|---|---|---|
Fort Collins, Colorado | $167.93. | $70. |
Greensboro, North Carolina | $111.36. | $81. |
Sandusky, Ohio | $140.99. | $69. |
Plan G
On average, Cigna's quoted premiums for Medigap Plan G were about 37% higher than the least expensive Plan G policy in the area.
Cigna-quoted price | Medicare.gov lowest price | |
|---|---|---|
Fort Collins, Colorado | $119.95. | $97. |
Greensboro, North Carolina | $113.56. | $87. |
Sandusky, Ohio | $143.50. | $92. |
Plan N
On average, Cigna's quoted premiums for Medigap Plan N were about 31% higher than the least expensive Plan N policy in the area.
Cigna-quoted price | Medicare.gov lowest price | |
|---|---|---|
Fort Collins, Colorado | $82.08. | $70. |
Greensboro, North Carolina | $81.24. | $68. |
Sandusky, Ohio | $113.40. | $73. |
Discounts
Here are some discounts Cigna offers to qualifying Medicare Supplement Insurance applicants:
Online application: New applicants in most states qualify for a 5% discount for applying online.
Multiple household policies: Applicants in most states can receive a 7% discount if more than one member in their household enrolls in a Cigna Medigap policy.
Available discounts can vary according to factors such as your location, household status and how you apply for a policy.
Cigna's spending on care
75% for member benefits
Medicare Supplement Insurance providers must report data on the premiums they collect and how much they spend to provide benefits for members.
Based on the most recent year of data, Cigna Medicare Supplement Insurance plans spend about 75% of premiums on member benefits [4]. (The other 25% goes to overhead expenses like administrative costs, marketing, salaries and commissions.)
For comparison, the average for all providers is 72.3%. The minimum required by law for individual Medigap policies is 60% [5].
Member complaints
40% above average
Members file complaints about Cigna's Medicare Supplement Insurance plans at a rate about 40% higher than the average for all Medigap plans. This is according to three years' worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for Cigna and its subsidiaries that sell Medicare Supplement Insurance policies [6].
Other insurance offerings by Cigna and those subsidiaries don't see similarly high complaint rates, with a complaint rate for all policy types about 4% below the average for all insurers over the same three years of data.
Customer service
Here's how Cigna members can contact customer service:
Call a Medicare Supplement Insurance customer service representative at 866-459-4272, Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time. (TTY/TDD dial 711 and follow the prompts.)
Chat online with a member services representative, Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time.
Contact Cigna through Facebook.
Contact Cigna through Twitter.
Third-party ratings
There are a few companies that weigh in on customers' experiences with insurers or the strength of the company in question, and we've included two here:
Compare alternatives
Here's how Medicare Supplement Insurance providers compare with Cigna.
Compare Medicare Supplement Insurance providers | |
|---|---|
Complaint rate: 67% worse than the market average. Service area: 43 states. Percent of premiums spent on benefits: 75.6%. | |
Complaint rate: 63% better than the market average. Service area: 50 states and Washington, D.C. Percent of premiums spent on benefits: 71.7%. | |
Complaint rate: 24% worse than the market average. Service area: 16 states. Percent of premiums spent on benefits: 68.6%. | |
Complaint rate: 0.4% better than the market average. Service area: 50 states and Washington, D.C. Percent of premiums spent on benefits: 72.6%. | |
Complaint rate: 40% worse than the market average. Service area: 48 states and Washington, D.C. Percent of premiums spent on benefits: 75%. | |
Complaint rate: 335% worse than the market average. Service area: 49 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Percent of premiums spent on benefits: 77%. | |
Complaint rate: 62% better than the market average. Service area: 49 states and Washington, D.C. Percent of premiums spent on benefits: 71.4%. | |
Complaint rate: 50% better than the market average. Service area: 45 states and Washington, D.C. Percent of premiums spent on benefits: 71.7%. | |
About Cigna
Cigna, headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut, was created in 1982 when Connecticut General Corporation, or CG, and the Insurance Company of North America — known as INA — merged. Cigna offers health insurance for individuals and families, dental insurance, Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, Medicare Supplement Insurance, and other insurance coverage such as whole life and cancer treatment insurance. The company also offers insurance for businesses. In 2021, Cigna posted $174.1 billion in adjusted revenues.
Find the right Medicare Supplement Insurance plan
Because Medigap plans are standardized, you can get precisely the same Medicare benefits from any company offering the plan. So when you shop, keep these considerations in mind to find the best policy to fit your needs:
Is your preferred plan available? Health insurance companies don’t always sell every plan, so check who sells the plan you want to buy in your area.
What are the premiums? Prices for the same plan can vary between companies, so check to find the most competitive rates.
Will your premiums change over time? Most policies cost more as you age, but some companies offer policies that let you lock in a price when you sign up.
Are there extras? Medigap plans’ core benefits are standardized, but in certain cases, some companies include such perks as discount programs or gym memberships.
If you have additional questions about Medicare, visit Medicare.gov or call 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227, TTY 877-486-2048).
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