Access to care wherever you are in the world

Access to care wherever you are in the world

14 September 2022
Female accessing telehealth for consultation with doctor

Cigna’s origins go back to the 1790s so it’s no surprise that our contacts book makes impressive reading with more than 1.65 million medical partnerships with hospitals, clinics, and doctors, spread over 200 countries and jurisdictions.

This vast network makes it easy to find high-quality healthcare wherever you are in the world, and whenever you need it.

Accessing our global medical community starts with our secure online Customer Area – a healthcare hub which stores all your policy documents, ID cards, information about premiums, and offers a way to track ongoing claims. It also helps you find a local medical provider wherever you are in the world.

The next access point is through the Cigna WellbeingTM App, which connects customers with licensed doctors so that health concerns can be discussed in as-close-to real-time as possible. All non-emergency health matters can be discussed through this channel such as an upcoming hospitalisation, a certain medication or treatment, or illness and injury.

An example of how this service works can be seen in the experience of an existing customer who, whilst abroad, started to feel heart palpitations and wasn’t comfortable attending the local hospital which didn’t have any English-speaking doctors. She used her Cigna WellbeingTM App to schedule a video consultation for later in the day. The doctor spent time listening to the customer, discussing her symptoms, medical history, drug allergies and details of other prescribed medicines, putting her at ease and alleviating her concerns. The advice she received enabled her to book the right follow-up tests and get the help she needed.

Remote support such as this will also be provided by Cigna should policy holders experience serious or complex health conditions. In such an event, Cigna will provide a case manager to act as a single point of contact and coordinate treatment on your behalf, allowing you to focus on what really matters: recovering.

This is the same set-up for anyone who suffers from a chronic condition. Once again, a case manager will reach out and help you create specific and achievable goals to better manage your condition.

Man and young daughter consult a doctor via a telehealth service

These provisions are all included as standard in any of Cigna’s core Medical Insurance Plans: Silver, Gold or Platinum.

Once the core plan has been selected, customers can choose to add extra care modules that are relevant to their lifestyle or healthcare preferences. Take for example, the International Health and Wellbeing module. This module includes preventative health screenings, tests, and examinations, as well as offering a counselling service, capable of assisting you with any work, life, personal or family issue that could arise.

This may not be a service that appeals to everybody, but it will provide extra peace of mind for some, which is why it is offered as an additional module, rather than included in a core plan. Other modules that may be of use include International Vision and Dental, International Evacuation and the International Outpatient module.

The ability to tailor your health plan also helps keeps your costs under control. And to this aim, Cigna also offers various payment structures allowing you to reduce your premium by choosing a ‘deductible’ or a ‘cost share’ – effectively this is an agreed sum of money which the customer will pay towards medical provision, before Cigna cover the rest. It works in the same way that an ‘excess’ does with car insurance and will reduce your premium. Furthermore, customers can choose to pay in monthly or quarterly instalments, or annually, and in either sterling, dollars or euros, making medical insurance as simple as possible for globally mobile individuals.

Over more than 200 years of business, Cigna has prided itself on putting the customer at the centre of our thinking. And that philosophy guides us more than ever today, allowing us to offer choice, predictability, affordability and access to quality care for all our customers.

Discover more about Cigna International Health Plans

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