Government regulators have temporarily banned Cigna Corp. from enrolling more persons in its Medicare Advantage health plans because of problems for its members in such plans getting proper access to some medications and medical services.
"Cigna has experienced widespread and systemic failures impacting Cigna enrollees' ability to access medical services and prescription medications," the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, said in a letter to the insurer this week. "Cigna has had a longstanding history of non-compliance."
Cigna disclosed the government sanctions, effective Friday, in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The ban affects new business for Cigna Medicare Advantage and Standalone Prescription Drug Plan Contracts, which currently has about 502,000 patients, or 3 percent of the U.S. market. Cigna has more than 90,000 customers in such plans in Tennessee, making it the third biggest player behind only Humana and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
Cigna's actions "create a serious threat to enrollee health and safety," said CMS, which is requiring Cigna to appoint an independent monitor to audit its handling of the matter.
The sanctions do not affect patients who are already enrolled.
"As a company committed to delivering quality products and services, we focus on putting customers first. The findings in the audit are unacceptable and will be addressed in full partnership with CMS," Herb Fritch, president of Cigna-HealthSpring, said in a statement. "We have internal quality review processes in place that identified some of the areas in advance of the audit findings and we have already started working to remedy them."
Shares of Cigna stock fell Friday by $2.23 per share, or 1.6 percent, to close at $137.90.
Cigna has more than 1,200 employees at its claims processing facilities in Chattanooga.