Going to Russia – Cigna May Have You Covered With Adding 4000 Hospitals and Clinics to Network

It appears that Cigna card if you are one of their insured has additional access now in Russia to a rather large number of hospitals and clinics, who will bill Cigna directly. I wonder what their billing processes are or if they had to enroll in specialized training to learn how to use the US billing system? I guess we can welcome Russia to the sometimes complicated and confusing system we use if that is the case. BD

CLAYMONT, Del., February 15, 2010 - CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits (CIEB), a world leader in group health benefits for expatriates, has expanded its international network in Russia by adding 4,000 new hospitals and clinics. The network in Russia includes health care professionals located in areas with a high concentration of expatriates such as Moscow and St. Petersburg. CIEB offers access to a network of more than 120,000 global health care professionals outside the United States, delivering unparalleled access to care for globally mobile employees and their family members worldwide.

As an advantage for expatriates based in Russia, CIGNA's network provides significant discounts on care and the convenience of a direct pay option. When a patient receives care, the health professional will bill CIGNA directly. This frees the patient from worrying about paying for care out-of-pocket and seeking payment reimbursement. Expatriates simply present a CIGNA identification card at the time care is provided.

Additionally, the health care network alliance in Russia will have access to the CIGNA Envoy Provider Portal, an industry leading web portal for CIGNA's global network of doctors and hospitals. Through CIGNA Envoy, health care professionals have instant views of all benefits and health information at the time that patient care is provided.