What is Cigna?
The Cigna Group operates through two main divisions: Cigna Healthcare and Evernorth Health Services. Cigna Healthcare provides a variety of health benefit plans for individuals, families, Medicare-eligible older adults, and employers and organizations of varying sizes wishing to provide employees with healthcare benefits. The Evernorth Health Services division enhances accessibility to disease treatment and prevention through various solutions, including pharmacy and care services. It offers home delivery pharmacy, specialty pharmacy care, virtual consultations via MDLive, and behavioral healthcare, among other offerings.
Cigna Healthcare’s business segments
Cigna Healthcare serves customers and clients through its three main business models: U.S. Commercial, U.S. Government, and International Health businesses.
- U.S. Commercial: This segment covers employer-sponsored health plans, including medical coverage with various healthcare options, access to a national provider network, mental health and wellness programs, pharmacy benefits with specialty medications, home delivery, and retail pharmacy access. It also encompasses vision, behavioral/mental health, dental care, supplemental health solutions, employer-provided Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA), Health Savings Accounts (HSA), and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA).
- U.S. Government: This segment covers Medicare, individual, and family plans, including Medicare Advantage plans with extended benefits beyond original Medicare. Medicare Part D offers affordable prescription drug plans with low copays, covering over 3,000 medications. Cigna's Medigap insurance assists with costs not covered by original Medicare. Individual and family plans include medical, vision, pharmacy, dental, and supplemental insurance options.
- International Health: This segment includes individual and family plans tailored for travelers, providing healthcare coverage, well-being services, and international travel support in over 200 countries. These plans benefit employees working abroad or overseas employers who must insure their employees in their home countries.
What is coinsurance?
The part of the cost from the covered healthcare service that the patient has to pay, excluding the deductible, is called coinsurance. It is lower for the service you receive from an in-network provider than those from an out-of-network provider.
For example, a visit to an in-network Cigna psychologist near you costs $180, and your coinsurance is 20%. Then you have to pay 20% of $180, which equals $36. Therefore, $36 is your coinsurance and out-of-pocket expense for the visit, provided you've paid the deductible.
Medicare Advantage vs Medicare Supplement
The top differences between Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement plans include the following:
- Medicare Advantage plans include Medicare Part A and B (hospital and medical) coverage. Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plans do not provide such coverage.
- Medicare Advantage plans usually include Part D coverage as well. However, Medicare supplement plans don't; you must buy additional coverage.
- Medicare Advantage doesn't include out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles, copays, and coinsurance. Whereas Medicare Supplement covers this expense, the coverage amount depends on the policy.
- Most Cigna Medicare Advantage plans also provide additional vision, dental, and hearing coverage. However, Medigap plans do not offer such coverage; you must buy separate coverage.
- Medicare Advantage provides access to network doctors and hospitals. Some plans also allow patients to see doctors and hospitals outside the network for higher costs. Medicare Supplement plans do not provide access to in-network providers, and you can choose any doctor or hospital that meets your policy.
Who are psychologists, and what do they treat?
Psychologists are mental healthcare professionals who can diagnose and treat mental health conditions. They study the mind and behavior. They employ various psychotherapy techniques, including cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy, interpersonal therapy, and couples therapy, to support patients in managing their emotions.
In psychotherapy or talk therapy, patients discuss their personal experiences and issues, allowing psychologists to observe and identify negative thought patterns influenced by social, cultural, and environmental factors. These professionals provide guidance and coping strategies across multiple sessions. Psychologists, unlike psychiatrists, are not medical doctors and are not authorized to prescribe medication. Being medical doctors, psychiatrists can prescribe medications as part of their treatment. Psychologists hold doctoral degrees such as PhD, PsyD, or EdD and are generally not authorized to prescribe medications.
You can consult a psychologist for the following issues:
- Addiction and substance use disorders.
- Anxiety
- Chronic disease management (e.g., cancer and heart disease)
- Mood disorders (e.g., depression)
- Eating disorders.
- Family and relationship issues
- Grief and loss
- Problems related to work or school performance
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Sleep disorders
- Stress management
- Self-confidence issues
- Phobias
- Trauma from accidents or near-death experiences
Seeking a psychologist could be beneficial for assistance with work, family, or emotional issues.
Does Cigna cover mental health services?
Cigna offers mental health services through its behavioral healthcare programs for employers, Medicare beneficiaries, individuals, and families. The extent of coverage depends on the type of plan.
Behavioral health programs, such as Depression Disease Management and substance abuse coaching, are available to those with Cigna Healthcare Medicare Advantage plans. Other resources include a friendship line, depression screening, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Additionally, Cigna's individual and family plans include a virtual behavioral healthcare service featuring licensed counselors and psychiatrists who address and treat nonemergency conditions like panic disorders, depression, and bipolar disorder and offer medication management.
The Cigna Behavioral Health Network provides employee assistance, work/life programs, and benefits management through health plans for employers of various sizes. It features a network of over 80,000 psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers and more than 10,000 facilities. The network's Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offers counseling and support for work/life issues. Services include inpatient and outpatient care, peer coaching, and specialized care for individuals on psychotropic medications to reduce emergency room visits.
Does Cigna offer any preventive mental health services?
Cigna Behavioral Health encourages practitioners to educate participants about preventive strategies, including stress management, relapse prevention, wellness programs, and lifestyle changes. It also offers a Preventive Health Program for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), aiming to educate caregivers on mitigating common issues related to the disorder and advocating for early detection in siblings.
What are the types of mental healthcare professionals included in Cigna's healthcare behavioral network?
The Cigna Healthcare behavioral network includes various mental healthcare providers with diverse degrees and licenses. Each provider has a unique scope of practice. Behavioral programs are mainly conducted in clinical and hospital settings.
- Ph. D./MS-level practitioners: These include psychologists, family therapists (LMFT and LMC), social workers, nurse practitioners, and clinicians. They use talk therapy to address and resolve patient issues. All therapists contracted by Cigna Healthcare are licensed and offer treatment through independent practices. Many are now offering video consultations for patient convenience.
- MD/DO/NP level providers: MDs and DOs are certified doctors specializing in psychiatry and addiction medicine. They treat problems through therapy and are authorized to prescribe medication.
Find a Cigna psychologist near you in Manhattan, NY
Your mental health significantly impacts your physical well-being, and some mental conditions may reflect physical health issues. Zocdoc helps patients all over the United States find qualified doctors and other healthcare professionals, including psychologists, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists, who match their needs and preferences.
To book an in-person or online consultation, visit the Zocdoc website and enter your condition or symptoms, location, and insurance plan. Then, browse the list of top-rated psychologists in your area and filter the results based on gender, time of day, hospital affiliation, languages spoken, distance, and whether a provider treats children.
If you want to know your insurance plan, upload an image of your insurance card to your Zocdoc account, and we will find and display information regarding your insurance plan (this facility is not available for vision or dental plans). You can even contact the Zocdoc service team if you need help uploading a photo of your card. You can also check out Zocdoc's patient help center for more information and solutions related to insurance.
Further, you can also select your insurance carrier and plan in the drop-down menu at the top of the page to locate psychologists who are in-network providers. For example, you can specifically search for Cigna psychologists near you in Manhattan, New York, NY. If you need help figuring out your exact health plan, take the help of Zocdoc's insurance checker. If you wish to buy health insurance and don't know where to start, you can understand the basics and commonly used jargon by referring to Zocdoc's Health Insurance 101 guide.
All bookings on Zocdoc are fast, free, and secure!
Mental health in New York
The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey indicates that from February 1 to 13, 2023, nearly 31.4% of adults in New York reported experiencing anxiety and/or depressive disorder symptoms. Additionally, New York's drug overdose death rate rose from 9.7 per 100,000 people in 2011 to 28.7 per 100,000 in 2021.
Before the pandemic, many adults with mental illness had private insurance. According to KFF's analysis of SAMHSA's restricted online data system and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in New York, approximately 61.8% of adults with mental illness in the previous year had private insurance. This number is higher than the national average of 59.6%. In 2021, the average out-of-pocket expenses for all services for adults with mental illnesses enrolled in large employer health plans ($1,404) was higher than that for adult enrollees without mental illness in New York ($652). Between 2018 and 2019, only 28.9% of adults with mental illness in New York had Medicaid coverage.
Sources
The Cigna Group[1]
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WebMD[1]
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Psychology.org
Healthline
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
Verywell Mind
Cleveland Clinic
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
KFF[1]
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