Cigna procedures threaten my health

I have Cigna and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2009. I was
given excellent care and cigna even assigned me a home health worker
to see if I needed anything and that i was doing good after my
surgery.

Cigna has been great for oour family and I am highly pleased with them

I am so sorry to hear about your struggle with Cigna. My uncle had
Cigna when he was diagnosed with cancer. He had Cigna for decades
before he got ill.

My uncle ended up selling all of his possessions, then his livestock
(pets) and finally his ranch to pay for his care. His friends donated
and 'loaned' tens of thousands to keep up his treatments. He died
penniless in an old camper trailer. His elderly wife still lives
there, unable to work due to age and without a retirement since it was
spent on medical bills for her husband.

It took less than 1 year to lose everything-to erase a well earned
life. Cigna should be shut down for sure.

The former CEO of Cigna is now on a crusade to stop the abuses. Maybe
you could look him up in Google-Wendell Potter. Not sure what he can
do, but maybe he will listen and add your complaints to his files.

Good luck in your fight.

My family had Cigna coverage for about 4 years. As long as you don't
use it you never realize it doesn't work. We just stupidity let the
company take bi-weekly payments out of husbands checks. The time I
really need to use it I was denied. Fought with them for a year. Had
to hire an insurance letter writer/advisor. She was a former insurance
employee who claimed she needed to redeem herself. She put together a
15 page letter with probably another 30 pages of old doctor records
and told me to be patient. She was correct, they finally paid.
Interesting enough my son had a estimate for his wisdom teeth removal.
The doctor's office showed me what I would pay and what Cigna would
pay. My portion was around $500.00. This was with a policy that a
portion was supposedly paid by the company and we paid approx $400 a
month. THEN...we were laid off, and I signed kids up on a low-income
state policy that cost only $15.00 a month per kid. Wisdom teeth were
removed by same doctor, same total cost, but I ONLY paid $40.00. I
still had to fight with the insurance company to get approval for out
of network doctor (closest network doctor was 500 miles away). I had
to insist that my kid was entitled to treatment for pain since
insurance company wanted to take so long to approve. This insurance is
Blue Cross.

Watch "Sicko" and "Sick Around America". You will find out disgusting
stuff about the healthcare system and insurance companies here.

Insurance companies actually provide bonuses etc. to their employees
who deny operations. The more important the operation is, the more
expensive it will be. The more major operations they deny, the more
money they save.

"Cigna," he replied, "Can you not afford better coverage than Cigna?
They're notorious."

You realize your doctor was way out of line making this statement. So
maybe he felt he wouldn't be able to charge you an exorbitant fee
because Cigna wouldn't pay it while other insurance companies would. I
don't know if your insurance policy is through your employer or it is
a private party but each policy pays differently. He really had no way
of knowing what they would pay ahead of time. And what they pay is
based upon what fee codes he uses.

Also, insurance companies can't cancel your surgery only you or the
doctor can. Apparently your doctor didn't think enough of you as a
patient to try and work something out. I hope your operation wasn't
life-saving.If it were me, I would be looking for a new doctor.

That the doctor certainly should not have made that sort of comment,
indirectly, an insurance CAN cancel an appointment. If the insurance
initially agrees to pay for a procedure and then decides not to (for
whatever reason), then the claim can be denied before it is even
started, causing the doctor's office/hospital/whatever to cancel the
procedure so you/they aren't stuck collecting on the fees. Yes,
ultimately it's the hospital/doctor canceling the appointment, but
they are canceling it BECAUSE they can't get paid. Not fair, maybe,
but I don't know if I could do my job for free either.

You'd be surprised on the kind of limits an insurance has, even a
"good" one.

I have United Health Care and went for an MRI on my knee. When I
showed up for my appointment, I was told that my insurance company
refused to pay for the treatment and told the doctor's office to
cancel my appointment without notifying me of the change. The office
said I could pay in full for the outrageous cost of the exam and I
declined. So, in essence my insurance company was the direct result of
why my appointment was cancelled.

I'm sorry this happened to you, but I'm not surprised. Cigna is the
absolute WORST insurance company we have ever had the displeasure of
dealing with.

We were stuck with them for several years, through my husband's
employer. It was the only insurance option that was offered. They go
out of their way to get out of paying for pretty much anything. One
of the few things they didn't try to get out of paying for was my
annual mammogram, but that was only because Massachusetts state law
requires that insurance cover one per year for women 40+.

Just one of many examples of Cigna's cheapitude that we've endured -
my husband's doctor ordered a colonoscopy. He'd had his appendix
removed and they found cancer in it. So of course, they wanted to
check to see if it had spread anywhere else.

Cigna covered the colonoscopy itself, but decided not to pay for the
anesthesiologist. We got a bill for $900. I guess he was supposed to
have something stuck up into his nether region, poking around up
there, while wide awake. We fought and fought with Cigna, until they
finally settled and paid a paltry $125 on that $900 bill. No wonder
health care practitioners hate them so much!

We weren't the only ones who've had such issues with Cigna. The HR
department at hubby's work got so many complaints, that they finally
got rid of Cigna and switched everyone back to Blue Cross/Blue Shield,
who we've NEVER had a problem with. The switch to Cigna was to save
the company money, but, in this case, you get what you pay for. I am
so glad we're no longer stuck with them.

Good luck to you in getting any kind of response from Cigna. They
exist simply to take people's money, and give them nothing in return.
They deserve to go out of business!

I'm sorry about your experience. I have had several insurance
companies over the years (always through employers) and Cigna has
always been my favorite to work with.

Health care reform? Who needs it.