Cigna To Launch Online Tool To Estimate Out-Of-Pocket Costs for Members in Advance
Cigna in April plans to launch an online tool that will allow physicians and hospitals to inform members in advance about their estimated out-of-pocket costs for medical services, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Cigna Cost of Care Estimator will consider deductibles and copayments specific to individual plans of members, as well as funds from flexible spending accounts and other sources that members could use to pay.Cigna recently completed a 15-month pilot program to test the tool that involved more than 250 physicians from hospitals, clinics and individual practices in major cities in Illinois, North Carolina and Arizona. According to Cigna, the tool will help members avoid "sticker shock" and make more informed health care decisions. In addition, the tool will help reduce confusion among members about the amount that they owe for medical services and provide an opportunity to discuss payment arrangements, both of which will improve the likelihood that members pay their bills, Cigna said.
Jeffrey Kang, chief medical officer at Cigna, said, "Every other service industry provides estimates of cost prior to service; for the first time, we are systematically trying to do this for health care." Jim Nastri, vice president of product development at Cigna, said the system, which uses proprietary software from Thomson Reuters, is accurate "within 10% of the cost of those services 90% of the time."
According to the Journal, other health insurers likely will develop similar tools, although some critics have raised concerns that "knowing more precisely what patients will owe could lead some health care providers to require upfront payments for treatment" (Knight, Wall Street Journal, 2/10). This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
