Cigna Agent Communication from 10/5/2023:

Corrected benefits and updated digital copies.

Please review this email before meeting with customers to ensure you are presenting the correct benefit information.

We discovered a few errors in the 2024 Cigna Healthcare Medicare Advantage Enrollment Guide.

What you need to know:

• You do not need to order new sales kits. You can continue to use the guides that have been printed and distributed. We just need your help making sure the customer gets the correct benefit information.

• Corrected copies of the Enrollment Guide have been posted to Producers’ University and CustomPoint. You can find the updated guide in Producers’ University by visiting the Resource Center.
• To address the correct benefits, please follow the steps below.

How to get the correct benefit information

1. Print and use these corrected pre-enrollment checklists.

These should replace the checklists in your printed guide.

• Pre-enrollment Checklist – Generic
• Pre-enrollment Checklist – Generic (Spanish)
• Pre-enrollment Checklist – AZ only
• Pre-enrollment Checklist – AZ only (Spanish)

NOTE: You must be logged in to Producers’ University directly or through CignaForBrokers single sign-on to access these documents.

2. Review the list of benefit corrections below.

Make sure your customer understands the benefits offered with their selected plan. The benefits listed below are not available with all plans.

Transportation: The benefit for routine, non-emergency transportation was listed as 60 miles instead of 70 miles. Prior authorization is required for trips exceeding 70 miles one-way.

In-home support: Our in-home support program provides a variety of helpful services and companionship virtually through a telephone, smart phone, or computer. This is a change from 2023.

 Services can include help coordinating transportation and meal/grocery delivery. Companionship includes virtual visits focused on social check-ins, games, even art classes and virtual museum tours.

3. Update your training and customer/telephonic scripts with the corrected benefit information.

Thank you for your understanding. We appreciate your help, and we are sorry for the inconvenience.

Sourced from Cigna Broker communication from 10/24/22:

Read below for tips to facilitate your transition to the new portal

On October 12, Cigna launched the new and improved Icario Connect Agent Portal. This new agent portal includes features that make it easier for you to facilitate health risk assessments (HRAs) with your customers. 

As part of the transition to the new portal, all existing agents should have received a Welcome Email from Icario inviting them to create new login credentials. We are happy that many agents have been able to transition to the new agent portal smoothly.

 For those of you who have still not activated your new agent portal, we have put together some helpful tips and resources to help you along the way. 

Registration Issues

 Agents who have not registered in the new Icario agent portal will receive daily emails from Icario with their new username and password. If you have not received the email, please check your spam folder or follow the steps below:

1. Email Icario directly at service@Icariohealth.com.
2. Call our Cigna Agent Resource Line (CARL) at 866-442-7516

Password Issues

 If you are experiencing any issues with your new password (e.g., new password is not working), please follow the steps below. 

1. Reply to the Icario Welcome Email informing Icario that your new password is not working. Icario will reach out directly to assist you.
2. Email Icario directly at service@Icariohealth.com.
3. Call our Cigna Agent Resource Line (CARL) at 866-442-7516

Other Technical Issues

 If you are still experiencing technical difficulties after following the steps above, please try the following:

• Clear the cache in your browser.
• Disable your pop-up blocker.
• Check your spam folder for emails from Icario.
• Type in your new username and password to ensure accuracy (do not copy and paste from the Icario Welcome Email).
• Use capital letters when entering the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) on the Prospective Member screen (e.g., 1AC2-D34-EF56)

One more thing… Great News!  The deadline to submit your HRAs has been extended! Agents now have until 12/21/2022 to submit the HRA for any customer applications taken from 10/1/2022 – 12/7/2022.

Sourced from Cigna Broker Communication from 10/14/22:

Kroger and its affiliated pharmacies recently notified Cigna that they would not participate in Cigna’s Medicare Advantage (MAPD) and Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) network, effective January 1, 2023. Please note, 2022 is not impacted.

We understand that the annual enrollment period (AEP) begins tomorrow and the timing of this announcement is less than ideal. However, we were only recently notified of the contract change with Kroger for 2023 and we felt it was important to share this information with you and your brokers regardless of the pre-AEP timing. We’ve sent communications to brokers licensed within each impacted market that includes the name(s) of the Kroger pharmacy or affiliate impacted by this change. Attached is a complete list of Kroger Pharmacy Affiliates for your reference.

As you can imagine, our AEP materials were prepared well in advance. We are diligently working to update the CMS Plan Finder, sales kits, Cigna’s online provider directory, and other online tools. In fact, updates to the online tools will be made by October 24.

We are doing everything we can to make this transition as smooth as possible for our customers. While we understand the disruption, Cigna Medicare has more than 63,000 network pharmacies available nationwide, which are listed in our online provider directory. Here are a few other large pharmacy chains that continue to be available to our customers:
• Walgreens
• Walmart
• Publix
• Rite Aid
• Winn-Dixie

Mail order is also available, delivering prescriptions right to customers’ mailboxes.

To provide you some insight into our member outreach strategy, beginning November 1, we will notify customers who have used a Kroger pharmacy in the past six months that Kroger and its affiliated pharmacies are terminating. In addition to the letter, we will actively engage customers through proactive, outbound calls to help them find an in-network pharmacy nearby. Our customer service team is also prepared to offer customers convenient alternative pharmacies for them to use

VIEW THE Affiliated pharmacies owned and operated by Kroger HERE

Sourced from Cigna’s Broker Email Communication on 10/25/21:

Cigna Medicare Advantage will pay external agents $75 for each completed HRA they submit, starting with Jan. 1, 2022 effective dates. To be eligible, brokers must complete HRA training available on Producers’ University.

As announced a few weeks ago, external brokers will be able to earn $75 for each online health risk assessment (HRA) they complete for our Cigna Medicare Advantage (MA) customers with effective dates on or after January 1, 2022.*

To be eligible, brokers must be licensed, appointed, and certified to sell Cigna MA plans and complete the HRA training. As of today, less than 10 percent of brokers have taken the training. Cigna encourages all their agents to complete the training soon so they can receive payment for completing the HRAs.

The HRA survey tool is expected to be available in mid-November.

Broker Communication Timeline
We are still working through some of the operational aspects of this new initiative and will provide more details about the payment process and online HRA survey tool over the next few weeks. Here is the anticipated communication schedule:

10/26 Reminder to complete training

11/02 Payment details will be shared (i.e., timing, process)

11/09 Instructions for accessing the HRA survey tool, including the date it is available and that the link will be sent from the vendor

Questions? Contact your Cornerstone Senior Marketing Representative.