Cigna Website Changes You Need to Know
By Ellen Terry

If you’ve been ignoring the pop-up screen that appears when you log in to the Cigna website at CignaforHCP.com, it’s time to pay attention.

The screen asks practices to fill out a form identifying one or more website access managers for the practice. This is a new role that will replace your practice’s primary administrator of CignaforHCP.com. If you haven’t completed the form yet, log in to the website and do it so your practice will have full access to coming changes on the Cigna site.

Also, check out these new tasks you can do at CignaforHCP.com:

Verify network participation: When you log in to verify your patient’s eligibility and benefits, you also can confirm which physicians in your practice — by taxpayer identification number (TIN) — participate in the network aligned with that patient’s benefit plan.

• Locate and click on the patient’s ID via the Patient ID tab, and scroll to the Patient and Plan Detail section. 
• In the detail column, click “Am I in-network for this patient?” An in-network verification screen will appear with the answer and from which you also can select a TIN. The screen will show the plans and networks in which the physician(s) aligned with that TIN participate. 

Visit the new precertification webpage: Cigna says this will help make it easier to determine when and where to submit requests. While you’ll still request precertifications the same way as before, the webpage provides access to a complete list of services that require precertification, how-to help, and frequently asked questions.

Get frequency and utilization information: For certain services, you can find out the total number of allowed covered visits for that calendar year and how many your patient has left under his or her plan. Click on the Patient ID tab and scroll down to the specialty tab for which you want this information. So far, there are tabs for allergy treatment, chiropractic care, durable medical equipment, external prosthetics, skilled nursing, home health, adult preventive care, and short-term rehabilitation. More are coming soon, Cigna says.

Patients With Alliance Plans Are Covered by Cigna

Cigna has strategic alliances with Tufts Health Plan, HealthPartners, Health Alliance Plan, and MVP Health Care. Patients with these plans are covered under your Cigna agreement the same as your Cigna-covered patients. Their insurance ID cards will display both the Cigna and the alliance plan logos. See this quick reference flyer that highlights key information about the alliance health plans.

Source: Cigna Network News, July 2018

The Texas Medical Association’s payment specialists continuously review health care payment plans’ newsletters and updates for items important to Texas physicians. Texas Medicine Today periodically publishes key excerpts from those newsletters that you might have missed.

If you have questions about billing and coding or payer policies, contact the specialists at paymentadvocacy[at]texmed[dot]org for help, or call the TMA Knowledge Center at (800) 880-7955. TMA members can use the TMA Hassle Factor Log to help resolve insurance-related problems. Visit www.texmed.org/GetPaid for more resources and information.