Health management is based on the principle that both the health providers and the customers will benefit better if there is a middle party who would manage the details of the services and ensure that the cost effectiveness of service is maintained.

It provides support to both the health care providers and the receivers of the health care services. CIGNA is a managed care which ensures that you would receive the quality health care that comes within the plan that you have opted for. It does this through the co-ordination of activities with the Cigna Health Insurancecare specialists. Once the customer talks to the health care service nurses, they guide the customer all through the treatment.

CIGNA runs on three principles. 1. Listening to the customer. The customer may be a corporate purchaser who has purchased plans for all its employees, or

the customer may be the end user who becomes a patient and is in need of the treatment. 2. Customer service is the most important performance grade. CIGNA aims to provide outstanding customer service through coordination of its activities between the end users as well as the health care providers. 3. Systematic use of information and knowledge. The better the awareness regarding the problems and management, the better the services to the customers. CIGNA ensures that its employees are well aware of the latest of the discipline so that they can ensure better services for the end users as well as coordinate better with the service providers regarding the best mode of treatment.

CIGNA over the eighteen years of service has developed into a leading edge service provider and envisions better service to customers in the future. It aims in taking personal ownership on the services provided, caring for customers, improving business whereby taking care of the employees, and creating value for the company. Over the years, CIGNA has ensured that it has a place in the mind of the people by offering the quality service that every individual dreams for.

CIGNA also constantly works with research and customer feedback to ensure that the quality of service is maintained and is always on a look out for betterment.

There are different plans that CIGNA has to offer.

1. Parent health care plan: Cigna Health Insurance plays a key role in the life of an individual when you become ill unexpectedly. The private medical cover from CIGNA helps you to cope with the condition as you know for sure that CIGNA would ensure that you receive the best possible medical treatment as early as possible. Parent plan is a plan for the whole family and is flexible so as to include the whole family and can be afforded by families of all situations. CIGNA also understands that the need for health care may different from family to family. The key features of the parent health care plan are specialist consultation fees, hospital accommodation charges, surgeons and anesthetists fees, physicians fees, diagnostic charges and day care treatment charges. The comprehensive care plan involves also the hidden costs which are incurred during illness. Hospital charges, surgeons and anesthetists fees are paid in full, also paid in full are specialists fees. So you do not have to worry about the financial part if you are under the plan. The hospital charges which are covered under the plan include the nursing and accommodation charges for the treatment, day care treatment, operation theatre and recovery room charges, prescribed medicines and drugs and dressings during the inpatient stay or day care stay. In cases where the hospital preferred is not on the CIGNA list, then the hospital charges are paid up to a particular amount of money as specified. The specialist consultation charges are also paid in full up to 26 weeks after the visits during the hospital stay, in any one year of insurance.

Cigna Health Insurance also takes care of the out patient treatments that you need to have. It pays the charges in full for any out patient surgical procedures, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, physiotherapy or chiropractic therapy referred by GP and psychiatric treatment. It also pays for any home nursing charges, any surgical appliances, alternative therapy that you may need to avail. It also pays for a private ambulance for up to a specified amount.

2. Child health care plan: The child health care plan offers payment for all the medical related expenses in case your child falls ill. Since the illness of the child is a stressing time for any parent, the reassurance that CIGNA would take the financial burden of the treatment off their shoulders would be a great relief. It pays for the physicians fees, surgeons or anesthetists fees, specialist consultation fees, hospital accommodation charges, payment for investigations like X-ray, blood tests, scans etc, day care treatment etc.

3. Cash plan: Cash for you is a plan that Cigna Health Insurance offers to its customers which ensure that a particular amount in cash is paid to you whenever you receive one of the treatments that is listed under the plan. After the benefit is paid to you, you can spend the money in whichever way you want and no questions are asked. There are three different schemes in the plans which are bronze plan, silver plan and gold plan. The benefits are offered for dental treatment, which include routine dental care, emergency treatment as well as for accidental damage. The benefit varies from 50 % to 55 pound sterling in bronze plan to 50% up to 125 pound sterling in gold plan for routine dental care. Benefits are also offered for optical care, consultations, physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic therapy, acupuncture services, maternity/paternity, hospital in-patient care, day care, parental stay in the hospital, mental health/psychiatric treatment, home nursing, etc.

The cash plan has several inclusions and certain exclusions which are specified in the plan itself. You must read the plan carefully before opting for the plan. The procedure for payment of benefits is also simple in case of cash plan. After you receive the treatment from any health care facility, a claim form needs to be filled and submitted to CIGNA with appropriate details from the facility where the treatment was received. Once the claim is received at Cigna Health Insurance, it is processed and the reimbursement of the amount is done through a cheque issued to you, within the plan limits.