Kevin sent a message to David Cordani – President and CEO of Cigna Corporation – Email Address that said:
Mr. Cordani,
I am contacting you to hare a poor experience I have had with Cigna. I am requesting that you have someone to research my complaint and contact me back via email or phone with a satisfactory resolution.
I contacted Cigna back in January with regards to an EOB for a CPAP machine. The EOB was for a rent to own rate of $125, submitted back in Dec 2015. My Doctor had billed Cigna for the rent to own and told me the total rental would be for 10 months, totally $1250 for the Cpap. Imagine my surprise when I found out the Dr. sold the machine to cash paying customers for around $900. I asked myself why am I paying $1250.
So I contacted Cigna in January. The rep informed me that the Dr should have given me a purchase option on the Cpap. The rep assured me that purchase would be much cheaper because my deductible had been paid for 2015 and Cigna would cover "most of the cost". She assured me that a purchase option would cost me much less out of pocket then the $1250 for rent to own. She called my Dr. and the Dr agreed to resubmit as a purchase back to Dec. At this point I thought everything was fixed.
Imagine my surprise when I go the Dr in March and find out that the purchase was DENIED by Cigna. I call Cigna and I am told by the rep that this was an error and the EOB will be resubmitted and that the purchase will be accepted this time. She tells me it will take a couple weeks for the new EOB to be submitted. When I get the updated purchase EOB it says Cigna charges $2,250 for my Cpap and that I am responsible for $1287.50.
You can imagine my surprise, because I was told by the Cigna rep in January that the purchase would be much cheaper than the rental ($1250). Clearly $1287.50 is more than $1250.00. This is no deal at all considering a cash costumer can buy the Cpap for $900.
So I contact Cigna again (May 12). The Cigna rep (Michael) apologizes and says the EOB was incorrect AGAIN and that my deductible was met and was not applied correctly. He says that the new amount I am responsible for will be $412.50. This amount makes sense to me so I am happy with this resolution. He says the EOB will be resubmitted and he can see that Cigna will accept it. I should get the new EOB saying I owe $412.50 in a couple days.
I do not get a new EOB. So I call today and the rep tells me everyone previously is wrong. She says that the EOB is correct and I owe $1287.50 for the purchase amount.
I have contacted Cigna for 5 months now, and apparently your team in the customer service department needs more training. Two reps told me that the purchase would be far less than the rental amount, but apparently it is not.
And how can my Dr sell the same Cpap to a cash costumer for $900 but I have to pay $1250 for the rent to own or $1287.50 to purchase all at once. How is this a savings to me? Why am I paying Cigna if I have to pay MORE than a cash paying customer?
Can you please help me understand?
As you can tell I am very unhappy with my customer service experience. I have called multiple times and been told this has been a mistake by two reps who tell me it will be fixed. Then I am told four months later that it is not a mistake and I owe $1287.50 AFTER Cigna pays their part. To me this seems like fraud on the part of your company. You are over inflating the cost of the Cpap to $2,250 then telling me I have to pay half of that amount and wording it as "discount". If I can buy the Cpap for $900 cash then your discount is an absolute rip off.
I am hoping you can explain to me how this makes good business sense. Alternately I am hopeful that you can find a way to resolve my complaint.
I should be able to purchase this Cpap for far below the cash price of $900 because Cigna should pay for their fair share (after-all that is why I pay Cigna every month, right? I work for a large national company and I wonder how they would feel knowing that the insurance they help provide to an employee is so clearly unfair on a financial basis.
Please advise as to your thoughts and if you can help achieve a fair resolution.
Regards,
Kevin
