Cigna health insurance spotlight

Cigna health insurance spotlight

Founded in 1792, Cigna is a global brand that offers a variety of insurance services such as health and dental. Cigna offers a global health insurance policy that is aimed at expats and people moving away from home. However, their UK services are geared towards business health insurance rather than personal policies. In this blog, we’ve covered the UK health insurance services in isolation to help you understand Cigna’s business offering.

Cigna’s ethos surrounds healthy living and improving the wellbeing of employees. In turn, this may help to reduce staff absence and improve productivity within the workforce. Cigna nurses actively help employees and their families with their treatment and care, supporting them throughout the care process. Read on to learn more about the health insurance policies Cigna offers.

Please note: the information presented in this blog is correct as of 21st May 2021 and has been sourced directly from https://www.cigna.co.uk/ 

Cigna health insurance

Cigna offers several health insurance policies geared towards businesses of different sizes and needs, depending on the company itself. Some of the health insurance plans offer multiple levels of cover for you to decide on, with differing inclusions and treatment limits depending on your selection. Below we’ve detailed the policy inclusions that may vary based on your cover level:

• Hospital charges and fees
• Care received at home
• Use of private ambulances
• Fees for health specialists
• Consultations
• Outpatient and inpatient treatments
• Prosthetics
• Mental health services
• NHS cash benefits

When choosing to purchase business health insurance through Cigna, you can choose from CompanyHealth, EssentialHealth, YourHealth and Cigna Health Flex. Here are the specifics of each option:

CompanyHealth

CompanyHealth is a corporate health insurance plan aimed at businesses with 100 employees or more. It offers fully comprehensive cover and access to all private hospitals and consultants in the UK Cigna network. CompanyHealth policies can be tailored around your needs, such as the level of cancer and mental health cover you wish to provide. Cigna also offers cash backs from cancer checks and health assessments, as well as providing cancer screenings for bowel, breast and cervical cancer. In addition, you may have the option to select from the following underwriting options:

• Medical history disregarded
• Full medical underwriting
• Continued previous medical exclusions
• Moratorium

EssentialHealth

EssentialHealth offers cover for acute medical, musculoskeletal and mental health conditions and treatments for businesses with 100 employees or more. EssentialHealth aims to combat one of the most common causes of workplace absence, mental health. Cigna has 3 levels to choose from based on your needs. All levels offer access to all private hospitals and a network of UK based consultants and vary in the following way

1. Diagnostic tests and procedures, outpatient treatments for musculoskeletal health concerns, and mental health conditions.
2. Diagnostic tests and outpatient treatments for musculoskeletal and mental health related illnesses.
3. Diagnostic tests, outpatient and inpatient treatment for musculoskeletal and mental health conditions.

For more information on the limits and inclusions of the varying cover levels for EssentialHealth, please refer to this product guide.

‍

YourHealth

YourHealth is a budget option for providing employees with the benefit of health insurance. YourHealth is for businesses with 100 employees or more, and offers three levels of cover to choose from:

1. Diagnostic tests and procedures
2. Diagnostic tests and outpatient treatment
3. Diagnostics plus outpatient and day case treatment

For more information on the limits and inclusions of the varying cover levels for YourHealth, please refer to this product guide.

Cigna Health Flex

Cigna Health Flex is the health insurance policy aimed at smaller businesses, specifically between 2 and 99 employees. Cigna Health Flex is a small business health insurance solution offered around the premise that it’s flexible and digital, meaning it’s a great solution for businesses who want to adapt their offering to suit their employees.

There are three levels of care available which offer various cover and limits on treatments and procedures, and you also have the option to include dental cover as part of your Health Flex plan, at a discounted rate. Select the cover that best represents the benefits you’d like to offer to your small team, and create your company-wide policy in 5 steps. Please bear in mind that opting for higher levels of cover may increase the premium you pay for your HealthFlex insurance policy. Here’s what you’ll need to decide on:

1. Select the level of cover that best matches the benefits you’d like to offer to employees
2. Decide on whether you want full outpatient cover, or if you’d like to set a limit of either £1,000 or £2,000. Please note, the ability to set limits is only available on levels 2 and 3.
3. Select your hospital network from either Cigna’s hospital network or any other recognised hospital network or provider.
4. Decide on your excess amounts of £100, £250, £500 or £1,000, or opt for co-payments of 25% up to the excess amounts.
5. Confirm the level of underwriting: full medical underwriting, continued previous medical exclusions, moratorium or medical history disregarded.

Because you’re operating a smaller business, you may be able to take into consideration the needs of your employees in comparison to if you’re purchasing a generic policy that offers a middle-ground and fair solution to all employees.

Cigna Wellbeing App

To complement their health insurance offering, Cigna also has a dedicated wellbeing app which offers easy-access to certain services, policy information and resources. The Cigna Wellbeing App serves as one manageable location for your employees to access the benefits associated with company-wide health insurance. Through this app, policyholders can:

1. Access the care you need anytime with quick and easy access to doctors by phone or video calls.
2. Dial your plan helpline number for instant access to Cigna customer teams
3. Gain access to a member’s portal to view tracked claims, additional information and more.
4. Lifestyle and general health advice through health assessments, wellness articles, healthy recipes and more.

‍

Cigna self-referral

Cigna offers a self-referral option for their policyholders that would prefer to bypass a GP appointment and instead refer themselves for diagnosis or treatments. Self-referral is available for the following treatment types:

• Physiotherapy via Nuffield Health
• Chiropractic and Osteopathy with your choice of provider
• Detox at home (provided that mental health is included within your plan) via Archangel Home Detox Ltd
• Breast cancer diagnostics via BreastHealth UK
• Prostate cancer diagnostics via ProstateHealth UK
• Skin cancer diagnostics via SkinHealth UK
• Psychotherapy and psychiatric care via Nuffield Health

How the process works depends on the condition that you’re referring yourself for. In every event, Cigna should be contacted before self-referral to ensure that your treatments are covered, and if any limits apply. If you’d prefer to visit a GP, you still have this option over self-referral. Here’s how it works for each condition type:

Physiotherapy treatments

1. If you’re referring yourself for physiotherapy treatment, contact Cigna and explain your symptoms.
2. If required, you’ll then be booked in for a telephone assessment with a registered physiotherapist.
3. If your injury requires additional treatment and you cannot manage it yourself, you’ll be booked in for a further assessment at a time and location convenient for you.
4. Cigna nurses will then confirm your treatment plan with your physiotherapist.

Osteopathy and chiropractic treatments

1. If you require osteopathy and chiropractic treatment, inform Cigna of your intention to self-refer.
2. A telephone check will be carried out to ensure you receive the correct treatment for your condition.
3. If required, you’ll be booked in for an appointment and begin treatment.
4. If a specialist is needed after your treatment, you can be directly referred and won’t need to go back to a GP.

Breast cancer

1. Following a phone conversation with Cigna, you’ll be transferred to BreastHealth UK if required.
2. Via BreastHealth UK, you’ll receive a triple assessment; clinical breast exam, mammography for over 35 year olds, breast ultrasound (if needed) and a tissue biopsy or cyst aspiration.
3. You’ll receive confirmation during your assessment whether a follow-up phone call is required.

Skin cancer

1. Contact Cigna regarding your skin health concerns, and you may be transferred to SkinHealth UK.
2. You’ll be invited to undertake a dermatology examination and photography of your skin, scars and moles. This will then be reviewed by a consultant.
3. If further review is required, an appointment will be offered to you within 10 working days.

Mental health treatment

1. Call Cigna and discuss your symptoms. You’ll be transferred to Nuffield Health for a wellbeing assessment if needed.
2. Following your wellbeing assessment, you’ll be advised on the most appropriate care. You have the option of video calls or attending face-to-face sessions.
3. Cigna nurses will then work with your specialist to support you and your treatment plan.

How to purchase Cigna Health Insurance

When purchasing a private health insurance policy, we recommend that you utilise the services of an independent broker who can offer you a fair and personal analysis of the market. You can ask any questions about multiple providers, and they should help you find policy options suited to your personal needs. You also have the option of contacting Cigna directly, but this may make it difficult for you to compare their policy offering with other competitors or get the answers to questions outside of what Cigna offers.