Cigna

Parent Q&A

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  • My husband has a serious medical condition, the (extremely high) cost of which has been covered by our insurer, Cigna. I am now receiving phone calls and mail from Cigna urging my husband to sign up for a “personal nurse advocate.”  I am a little reluctant to do this, as I don’t see what benefits this would provide, and I’m concerned that it would just add more phone calls and appointments to an already-busy schedule managing his health care. He's getting great care from his doctors and Cigna has been fine in terms of covering the costs thus far. Cigna touts this as a huge help for us, but I have to think it is just something to help Cigna cut its costs. Overall, it is tough for me to see any benefit to inserting another person into the mix, but am I missing something? Does anyone have any personal experience to share? 

    Hi there I also have a CIGNA and a complex medical issue and they frequently email me or call me to ask me if I want a personal case manager. Having worked with brain tumor patients and other cancer patients over the years I know there’s positives and negatives to this, it is a cost saving measure for the insurance company on the one hand but it’s also designed to help ensure people can more efficiently get the services they need. My guess is that if you are writing in here asking this question you are probably already a  good self advocate, and  you’re probably accessing all the services that you’re entitled to and so I wouldn’t worry so much about missing out on things. I’ve personally never opted in.

    So sorry to hear that your husband is ill!

    I have not had your specific experience, but your description of the situation is ringing a bell for me.

    Ten years ago I was seriously ill, and when I came home from surgery, the phone rang, and it was some "advice nurse" from United Healthcare, our insurance company.

    She starts off by ordering:  "Tell me about your discharge instructions."

    I was still a bit groggy from sedation, but I was like (WTF?) "Excuse me, who are you?  I did not hire you.  The job of United Health Care is to pay the bills in a timely manner. Have a nice day."

    We did not hear back from them.

    My hunch is that you are spot-on right that this is a ploy by your insurance company to reduce costs, by second-guessing the care you are getting from the doctors and others your husband has hired. 

    If you are not already an elder (as I seem to have become!), I must warn you that once a patient crosses the threshold of 65 years old, the health industry automatically assumes that you are demented and require their services to babysit you and tell you what to do. It becomes necessary for the patient to tell them to, err, take their patronizing attitude and shove it.

    Studies have shown that cranky, self-actualizing old curmudgeons outlive sweet, submissive old people.

    There are families who would like to have a "nurse navigator" and there are fine professional nurses who perform a valuable service in that area.  But unfortunately the current state of the health care system requires that patients self-advocate and defend ourselves from the profit-seeking insurance companies and their hirelings.

    Wishing you and your husband all the best.

    Hi! I can't speak specifically for "Cigna personal nurse advocates," but here's another perspective from a registered nurse who has worked in/alongside a similar role (nurse case managers, care coordinators, community health workers):  The main benefit is that your husband may have a better quality of life as a result of his care being managed by someone (a nurse) whose role is to coordinate all the moving pieces -- multiple primary care and specialty appointments, lab work, imaging, medical advice, ...sometimes even insurance-related issues, respite care (for you as his caretaker), etc. It certainly can add more phone calls and have you feeling like it's another cook in the kitchen, but the point is that the benefits outweigh the cost. It can be extremely difficult to manage everything going on (people to see, places to go, papers to sign), so having an advocate with medical knowledge and who can meet you at your level (vs. doctors who usually don't have the time to explain every detail) can be incredibly beneficial. Also even if you choose to have a nurse advocate, it should be your decision to end the relationship if you find it unhelpful. Again, I can't speak for Cigna's services and I obviously don't know the nurse so we can't be sure of outcome, but I am totally for this service if you have it available. At least try it! Or at least agree to talk with them about how it may benefit you and your husband. Best wishes to you both. 

    You are right, this is Cigna trying to cut its costs. My family had the same thing happen with a different insurer. The "nurse advocate" or "care manager" or whatever is cheaper for them that your family member seeing doctors and specialists.  We simply told our insurer we were not interested and the calls stopped. 

    Another resource: the California Department of Insurance has a "consumer hot line" toll free number 1-800-927-4357 if you have any questions about your rights or coverage on health insurance. You can find more at their webpage: https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/110-health/50-h-rfa/index.cfm…;

  • Cigna Pediatrician?

    Jun 11, 2023

    Hi All, I am a lifelong Kaiser member but my employer recently switch to Cigna, so starting July 1st my family will be on Cigna. I won't go into details but I am happy about the switch.  Does anyone have a recommendation for an amazing pediatrician in-network in the Richmond, El Cerrito, Albany, Berkeley (even into Oakland) area?  I feel like there are so many options and so many places to be seen, it's overwhelming to narrowing down the options. Is there clinics I should avoid?  Thank you so much for your advice!

    We're very happy with Sutter on Milvia in Berkeley (but they have other locations). We really love Dr. Anna Kaplan. She's practical, shares a lot of info, very knowledgeable and incredibly sweet. We highly recommend.

    Cigna is probably my favorite insurer of the ~4 I've had over the past ten years. Sadly I have something else now, but can definitely recommend Margery Lackman through Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation (who took my Cigna PPO). There are other pediatricians in that practice - I've seen most of them for sick visits, and I like them all. Dr. Lackman is only at Albany now, but they also have a presence at Milvia.

    Fellow Cigna subscriber here. We've been going to Berkeley Pediatrics since my daughter was born last September and have had a really positive experience. We chose them based on many consistent recommendations from others at BPN and similar fora, and have been seeing Dr. Nikki Learned. We really like her and have had a great experience with the other doctors we've met with periodically.

    We love Dr. Elizabeth Salsburg at Kiwi Pediatrics!

  • Having a difficult time finding a primary care physician in Berkeley who is accepting new patients. We just moved to the area and really need to find a physician because I have an ongoing medical issue that requires maintenance. I have Cigna PPO. I'll settle for seeing an endocrinologist, since my insurance will allow me to see a specialist without a referral but would prefer a family practitioner or internal medicine doctor who my wife can also see.

    The John Muir/UCSF Berkeley outpatient center at 3100 San Pablo has Primary care and specialty care along with urgent care and imaging all in one building.

    I've been happy with my care there so far.

    Hi there!  We see Dr. Andria Johnson (Family Practice) and Dr. Jianyu Xu (Endocrinology), at John Muir Health in Berkeley. We also have Cigna PPO.  They're both caring, kind and knowledgeable physicians. Highly recommended!

    My doctor retired and my insurance assigned me to a new dr.  — Carolyn Klebanoff. And I already like her a lot! And I can’t say I’ve ever had a primary care doctor that I really thought was great. They’ve all just been fine. But after doing a new patient video call with Dr. Klebanoff, I now feel like I have a PCP that is great   She was super responsive, friendly, communicative. 

  • Hi all!

    We are moving next month to Rockridge from DC and are pregnant with our third baby. 

    Could anyone recommend a great obgyn and/or a favorite hospital to deliver? We have Cigna healthcare.

    thanks!

    Cristina 

    I also have Cigna and recently moved back from dc midway through a high-risk pregnancy. I really liked Attia Kadri, and Arzou Ahsan (who ended up delivering) was very skilled and level-headed under pressure — saved at least one of our twins’ lives. Both are at Sutter and deliver at Alta bates.

    Hi!

    Congrats! I had all my babies at UCSF. Not sure if you want to drive to the city or will be working in the city, but I found it totally worth it, especially because I was a high risk pregnancy (type 1 diabetes) with all 3 of my kids. UCSF is the best but if you want to stay closer to rockridge, I’ll let other parents chime in! :) Good luck!

    Hi Cristina,

    I just had my first baby in August, and I had an amazing experience (I also have Cigna insurance). The OBGYNs at the Sutter Campus on Milvia St. in Berkeley are incredible. I’ve personally seen Dr Thomas and Dr Kondrashov. I trust them completely and think they are respectful, knowledgeable, and include the patient in all decision making. They deliver at Alta Bates hospital also in Berkeley (on the border of Berkeley and Rockridge). The labor and delivery nurses there went above and beyond to give me all of my options, supported me 100% in my labor plan, and made the whole experience very comfortable and smooth. I always felt like I was understood and in control. I would recommend delivering there to everyone.

    Let me know if you have questions!

    Sara Bourne

  • Hi my org is about to start open enrollment and I have the option of changing my insurance from Cigna to Kaiser. My 15 yr old struggles with anxiety and depression and we had a few visits to the ER last year for suicidal ideation. He currently is on meds and those and his psychiatrist visits are covered by Cigna (and we don't love the psychiatrist anyway) but none of the other stuff I've found useful have been--DBT parenting for me, none of the therapists we've connected with have been in network (and my teen won't go rn anyway). I know Kaiser isn't the best for mental health but I'm wondering if we might have more options that are covered, especially if we need some kind of outpatient care or groups. I could also witch to Cigna PPO. Any thoughts?

    I wouldn't recommend switching to Kaiser. I have a 16-year-old who struggles with anxiety and depression--there was some suicidal ideation about a year ago, and even so, getting mental health services from Kaiser has been a complete wild goose chase. (Both at Kaiser Oakland and Kaiser Richmond.) If you're not happy with the therapist you're seeing, maybe switch to Cigna PPO. I wish you all the best!

    As you probably know the Kaiser psych dept has gone on strike a couple of times in part because of the poor services they are forced to provide due to not enough staff. My son does have a psychiatrist and a therapist he likes there, but he can only see the therapist about once a month and sometimes it's canceled. At one point they gave us an authorization for outside therapy, but of the long list of therapists on the network they use, only 1 was taking (kaiser) patients and he wasn't a good fit for my son. We must have made 50 calls. Kaiser does have groups, including some really good parenting groups and groups for teens with various issues, and my partner gets CBT there, but your teen will probably not be able to get one-on-one therapy more frequently than once a month.

    I hope your family gets the help you need. Kaiser will not be great if one of the things you want is weekly therapy; they basically don’t provide it, but can refer you out to either Beacon or Magellan, both of which are sadly very poor.  However, Kaiser does have lots of groups, I think I recall a DBT group for teens when we visited the child psychiatry arm of things. The psychiatrists are mostly very good.  You will very likely find more than one group he or you would benefit from; their “model” seems to be group therapy. If I’m not mistaken you can find their behavioral health groups listed online (don’t have to be a member to view them, but would to enroll). Best of luck. 

    We don't get great feedback about Kaiser. You might want to talk with a insurance advocate in the mental health industry who can answer some questons for you should at one point you need to look at a higher level of care for your teen. 

          Karen Fessel and Staff at

    925) 388-0892

    info [at] autismhealthinsurance.org

    Jan Rao

    Willows

    You also might try Wise Mind Institute in Berkeley. They are really doing some outstanding work with DBT and RO DBT.  You might want to speak with Wes Pederson in the Redwood City office first. I just attended a presentation he did. It was awesome.

    Berkeley Office
    1010 Grayson St
    Suite 3You 
    Berkeley, CA 94710
    phone: 650-503-8179
    fax: 650-679-8052

    Jan Rao

    Willows

Archived Q&A and Reviews


Questions

Pediatrician that takes Cigna insurance?

April 2015

RE: Pediatrician that takes Cigna insurance?

I would highly recommend Dr. Karin Schiffman in Berkeley, behind Alta Bates. She is accepting new patients and takes Cigna. She has a solo practice, so you aren't shuffled among various doctors in a practice, especially helpful in my opinion for kids with a chronic medical condition. I can't speak to her experience with ADHD, but she's the type of person who wouldn't hesitate to tell you if she didn't think she was the right fit for your son. Good luck!


May 2003

We recently switched from Kaiser to Cigna PPO for health coverage. Can anyone recommend a pediatrician who is participating in the Cigna plan? We live in Oakland, near the Berkeley border, and would prefer someone close by, but our main concerns are that we want someone who is thorough, caring, experienced and practical. To explain, I was very turned off by one doctor who seemed most concerned about whether our baby was waking up at night rather than whether she was healthy and well. We would rather find a new doctor who is more concerned about her health and wellbeing as a whole. If that makes sense and you can recommend anyone, we would greatly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Hope

Recommendation received: