When disaster strikes, we appreciate the tremendous sacrifices that health care providers offer your local communities and the effect that these disasters have on your patients – and your ability to continue rendering quality care. Know that as you go the extra mile, Cigna HealthcareSM stands ready in its commitment to offer additional support to help you and your patients maintain uninterrupted access to health care, navigate challenging times, and restore normalcy.
Resources for your patients
The Cigna Healthcare Disaster Resource Center is home to a variety of resources for your patients and their families, regardless of insurance carrier, to help them manage the unexpected and care for their well-being. Here, your patients can find information on several key resources, including:
- Family preparedness: Offers a fillable template to create a family emergency plan, disaster assistance resources, American Red Cross disaster recovery guidelines, and cell phone tips for staying connected.
- Helping children cope: Provides strategies for coping with the aftermath of a disaster, as well as grief, loss, and death.
- Self-care and support: Includes strategies for stress and self-care, how to access support after a traumatic event, disaster recovery tips, and ways to manage distress.
- Natural disasters: Gives access to guides for before, during, and after earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and winter storms (including coping with loss and filing insurance claims).
- Violent attacks/traumatic events: Addresses ways to access support, cope with fear, and deal with the impact of violence (including school or mass shootings and witnessing a traumatic event).
- First responder resources: Offers support for coworkers and others who are coping with the death of a coworker.
- Employer and manager resources: Offers critical incident stress management services, emergency preparedness for business, Occupational Safety and Health Administration online tool for implementing an emergency action plan, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security planning tips.
- State and U.S. territory emergency websites: Provides direct links to each state’s emergency management agency website.
- Cigna Healthcare provider directory: Gives access to a searchable database of in-network providers from which to seek care.
In addition, in the event of a disaster:
- Patients who have Cigna Healthcare coverage can call 800.244.6224 or the telephone number on the back of their ID card for 24/7 clinical support, assistance with stress and anxiety, and the most up-to-date information for their local area.
- Patients who are not enrolled in a Cigna Healthcare plan can call 866.912.1687 for assistance.
- Whether or not patients have Cigna Healthcare coverage, during or after a disaster they can contact Cigna’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at 888.992.4462 (Option 2) for non-emergency emotional assistance or counseling.
Extra support for providers
During disasters that may inhibit access to medical care, Cigna Healthcare may offer certain accommodations to support affected health care providers and our customers to help ensure seamless access to care. We may relax or waive certain requirements, like prior authorization, prescription medication refills, patient transfers, medical necessity reviews, referrals, and in-network access to out-of-network care. We may also offer assistance with replacement medications and/or medical equipment, transferring prescriptions, and more.
When a disaster affects you or your local community, we encourage you to review the specific accommodations offered for the most recent localized disasters, including those listed below.
Recent local disaster(s) where Cigna Healthcare offered additional accommodations:
