You may have heard on the news or received a letter stating that your health insurance provider has been sanctioned…
But, what does it mean when a company is “Sanctioned”?
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), recently released sanctions imposed on Cigna in January of 2016. More specifically, Cigna’s Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D prescription plan named “Cigna-HealthSpring.”
Those people enrolled in these plans should not have seen a disruption in care, or coverage. CMS also requires the sanctioned company to notify all current enrollees; this allows those enrolled to make changes to their plans during Medicare’s open enrollment period.
There is a lot of confusion surrounding how sanctions work throughout a company. Cigna, for example, also deals with Medicare Supplement Insurance and group insurance.
It is important to emphasize that Medicare Advantage Plans, Prescription Part D plans, and Medicare Supplements are separate components and are held to different CMS guidelines.
Cigna Medicare Supplement Insurance, which many of our clients have, has not been sanctioned as it is a different facet of the “Cigna” parent group.
We did have clients enrolled in the Cigna-HealthSpring prescription plan, and advised them of the sanctions, and assisted with their transition into a new Part D plan for 2017.
In certain circumstances, we petitioned CMS for Special Election Period (SEP) status for individuals needing to change plans outside the annual enrollment period.
In conclusion, if you have a Cigna plan you are unlikely to be affected; but if you have concerns, please let us know.
If nothing else, this situation highlights another reason to review your Medicare Part D prescription plans during Medicare’s Annual Election Period (AEP), beginning in October and ending in early December.
