Cigna is the fourth-largest health insurance company in the country
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. 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
Dollars spent on care: Cigna spends a higher proportion of the premiums it collects on member benefits than the average Medigap provider.
Improving complaint rates: Cigna used to have relatively high complaint rates, but now the company outperforms the Medigap industry average.
Wide availability: Cigna offers Medicare Supplement Insurance in almost every state.
Premiums can be high: Cigna’s premiums can cost a fair bit more than those of other Medigap providers, especially for Plan A.
Some locations pay much more: Cigna’s prices are very competitive in some locations, but much higher in others.
Plan types: Cigna offers only three Medigap plans to new Medicare beneficiaries: Plans A, N and G (high-deductible Plan G is available in certain locations).
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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. Available as a high-deductible plan in certain locations.
Cigna also offers Medigap Plan F and the high-deductible version of Plan F (in certain locations) for individuals who were first eligible for Medicare before 2020. Newer Medicare members can't buy these plans from any insurance company.
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.)
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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.
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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 just under 500,000 Medicare Supplement Insurance beneficiaries and has a market share of about 3.4%
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.
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Cost
The following price quotes were obtained for three metropolitan areas representing above-average, average and below-average costs for the most popular Medicare Supplement Insurance plans (Plan G and Plan N)
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:
Los Angeles: More expensive than average.
Atlanta: Average cost.
Dallas: Less expensive than average.
The sections below show pricing information from Cigna for a 65-year-old female nonsmoker and reflect "base" pricing with optional 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 Los Angeles appears alongside the lowest price on Medicare.gov for all Plan A policies available in Los Angeles to an applicant with identical demographics.
(Prices are current as of February 2023.)
Plan A
On average, Cigna's quoted premiums for Medigap Plan A were about 60% higher than the least expensive Plan A policy in the area.