Cigna to allow consumers to customize their health plans

Physicians worry that the administrative headache amounts to more of the same problems for office staff.

By Jonathan G. Bethely, AMNews staff. April 3, 2006.

Cigna says it soon will give members the opportunity to design their own health plans. But physicians suspect that those consumer-designed plans might not be any easier to deal with than the company-designed ones.

Cigna's Custom Benefits Builder allows members to personalize various aspects of their coverage, from co-payment and coinsurance levels to deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, to whether the plan includes a health savings account. Once the appropriate selections are made, the Web-based tool then calculates how much the plan will cost and allows the member to enroll in what is essentially a traditional PPO or HMO plan. Member-designed plans would start up beginning January 2007.

Cigna is rolling out the custom-design benefits plans nationwide to large employers. Also, firms in Florida and Texas with fewer than 5,000 employers may use it as well. The program was not piloted in any one area, but Cigna officials said the tools were used in test settings with consumers to determine their usability.

Connecticut State Medical Society Executive Director Tim Norbeck said that although the program appears to offer consumers greater control of their medical coverage decisions, the program could create added pressure on a physician's administrative staff. That's because physicians worry that they won't be able to determine immediately what level of coverage patients have when they walk in with a custom-designed health plan.

"I would think this exacerbates what is already a very difficult task," Norbeck said.