Products December 22, 2004

CIGNA, Tufts Unveil National Health Offering

December 22, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - CIGNA HealthCare and Massachusetts-based Tufts Health Plan Monday will together offer a national health plan for mid-size and large employers with workers in multiple states.
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The alliance expects to start marketing the new plan in February for effective dates in the fourth quarter of 2005, according to a Hartford Courant report. The new offering is aimed at employers that operate in Massachusetts and other states, and that have 200 or more employees.

The CIGNA-Tufts alliance will sell an “open access” plan, which would offer the best benefits when members use doctors and hospitals in a network, and will not require a referral from a primary care physician to see a specialist, according to the Courant.

Members would use Tufts’ physician and hospital network in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and CIGNA’s network in all other states. The plan is expected to attract national employers with a significant concentration of workers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and regional employers with a strong New England operation, Richard Gray, vice president of business development for CIGNA HealthCare, told the Courant.

Gray also believes the new plan will draw employers based in Massachusetts who have employees scattered outside New England.

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