Cigna Offering Medicare Advantage In Portland Area

Cigna is expanding its Medicare business to Portland, offering Medicare Advantage (MA) plans in several counties there and giving local Medicare beneficiaries more choices, including plan benefits not offered by Original Medicare, such as vision, dental, and hearing coverage.

Cigna Preferred Medicare (HMO) and Cigna True Choice Medicare (PPO) MA plans will be available in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties in Oregon, as well as Clark County in Washington state.

Both plans are available for $0 premium and include a host of benefits not available in Original Medicare, including vision, hearing, dental, and prescription drug coverage. They also include meal delivery following a hospital admission as well as access to a network of high-quality local doctors and hospitals.

The HMO includes an innovative benefit to help customers who may be experiencing loneliness or need help with daily activities of living. Customers of this plan can be paired with partner who is available for a certain number of hours over the year to help them with instrumental activities of daily living, such as meal prep, transportation or chores, or just spend social time with them talking or watching a movie.

Unlike the HMO, the PPO provides some coverage services at an out-of-network provider, but at a higher cost. Like the HMO, the PPO provides dental coverage, but through a dental allowance to be used for preventive and comprehensive non-cosmetic services at any licensed dentist who participates in Medicare.

Cigna also offers Medicare Supplement plans and standalone prescription drug plans across Oregon and Washington to provide customers with choices for every budget and lifestyle.

"We are very pleased to have the ability to offer everybody eligible for Medicare in these counties a plan that suits their individual needs," said Dudley Gerow, vice president of Cigna's west and northeast Medicare regions. "Additionally, we are eager to build relationships in the Portland area and evolve with our customers over their lifetimes as their needs change."

Cigna also is pleased to have named Lindy Hinman to lead its MA plans in Oregon and Washington. Hinman continues to also lead Cigna's MA markets in Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Hinman has more than two decades of health care experience. She earned her bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis and her master's degree from the University of Michigan.

These plans will first be available to Medicare eligible customers during Medicare's Annual Election Period (AEP), which began Oct. 15 and continues through Dec. 7. They will be effective Jan. 1, 2022.

For more details about Cigna's Medicare plans, please visit www.CignaMedicare.com.

All Cigna products and services are provided exclusively by or through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation. The Cigna name, logos, and other Cigna marks are owned by Cigna Intellectual Property, Inc. Cigna contracts with Medicare to offer Medicare Advantage HMO and PPO plans and Part D Prescription Drug Plans (PDP) in select states, and with select State Medicaid programs. Enrollment in Cigna depends on contract renewal.