Cigna Medicare Insurance Review

Pros Explained

• Great value Medicare Advantage plans with low premiums: For 2024, Cigna’s average premium across Medicare Advantage plans is $6.81 per month. This is the second-lowest average premium after Molina Healthcare. Additionally, Cigna’s plans have a low average drug deductible and a lower-than-average out-of-pocket expenditures.
• $0 copays for generic medications with Part D plans: Each of Cigna’s Part D plans offers a $0 copay for some generic. 
• Medicare Advantage plans in Texas and Florida are well-rated by Medicare: The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services rated Cigna’s Texas Medicare Advantage plans 5 stars. Florida plans received a Medicare star rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Cons Explained

• Higher-than-average premium for Medigap Plan G: Besides Humana and Aetna, Cigna was the priciest of the Medicare supplement providers we reviewed for its Medicare Supplement Plan G. 
• Medicare Advantage plans are only available in 28 states and Washington, D.C.: Cigna’s Medicare plans offer a great value, but they aren’t as widely available as other providers’ plans.

Third-Party Ratings

Cigna’s Medicare Advantage plans are rated about average by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), with a 3.7 out of 5 star average rating. Cigna received the second-best ranking for Texas Medicare Advantage plans in the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Medicare Advantage Study—the company was not ranked in other regions.

Cigna’s prescription drug plans received a 3 out of 5 star average Medicare star rating, which is about average for the industry. The company’s overall NCQA rating, which reflects member experiences across all Medicare plans, increased this year to 3.5 out of 5, which is also about average.

Policies Available

Medicare Advantage (Part C) Plan

Medicare Advantage plans provide Part A and Part B benefits. Private companies, like Cigna, must adhere to Medicare rules with their offerings. 

Most Cigna plans include prescription drug coverage, and some include dental and vision coverage. Some plans also include free telehealth and urgent care. Most plans from Cigna come with $0 copays for primary care doctor visits. 

Cigna offers the following MA plan types: 

• HMO plans, which require you to use in-network doctors and hospitals
• PPO plans, which provide more flexibility in your physician choices
• Dual diagnosis (D-SNP) plans for people who are also eligible to receive Medicaid
• Chronic condition (C-SNP) plans for those with diabetes only

Part D Prescription Drug Plans

Medicare Part D is designed to provide prescription drug coverage for people with Medicare Part A and/or Part B or with certain Medicare Advantage plans without drug coverage.

Two of Cigna’s three prescription drug plans are available in all 50 states and offer a $0 deductible for some generics if you use one of 62,000 preferred pharmacies. If you use mail order, you’ll benefit from $0 copays for Tier 1 drugs with all plans. 

For people who need more extensive coverage, Cigna also offers the Cigna Extra prescription drug plan, which offers low deductibles and additional coverage for Tier 1 and Tier 2 drugs during the Medicare coverage gap.

Medicare Supplement Plans (Medigap)

Medigap coverage helps with copays, coinsurance, and deductibles not covered by Medicare. Most Medigap policies also help cover up to 80% of emergency costs when you travel outside the U.S. 

Private insurance companies sell Medicare supplement plans, but plans are standardized. Identified by letters in most states, these plans offer the same basic coverage across insurers, though some come with additional benefits. 

Cigna offers the popular Medicare Supplement Plan G, which is the most extensive, along with a high-deductible version. You’ll also find Plan A, Plan N, and Plan F (also available with a high deductible but only to people eligible for Medicare before 2020). However, Cigna’s Medigap Plan G is more expensive than other insurers’ supplement plans.

Cigna Medicare Costs

Overall pricing for Medicare Advantage plans from Cigna is better than average for the industry. For costs, here were the Cigna averages we found:

• Average MA premium: $6.81 per month in 2024
• Low average drug deductible: $23.96
• Average out-of-pocket expenditures: $5,279

Cigna is the lowest-cost Medicare Advantage provider in our list of the Best Medicare Advantage Plans of 2024, assisted by the low premium.  

However, Cigna’s Part D plans don’t offer the best value compared to other providers when considering premiums and deductibles.  That said, Cigna was our top pick for $0 copays on our Best Medicare Part D Providers list.

Customer Service

Cigna offers some of the most extensive customer service options of the insurance companies we reviewed. The company provides customer service and website support by phone 24/7, 365 days a year. MyCigna is an online portal that allows you to complete many actions online—and offers live web chat help. 

To shop for a new Medicare Advantage plan, reach Cigna at 1-855-984-1401. For a Cigna prescription drug plan, call 1-877-459-3353. For Cigna Medicare supplement plans, call 1-888-482-6557.

How We Review Medicare Advantage Providers

To identify which Medicare insurance companies to review, we analyzed business and market insight databases including Statistia, Plunkett, and Gale. We also considered user-generated data from Google to determine public interest and trends in Medicare plans.

We collected data from third-party rating agencies like the credit rating agency AM Best and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), an independent organization that rates health insurance plans on quality and customer satisfaction. We also gathered data from government websites and databases provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) such as CMS.gov and Healthcare.gov, and directly from companies via websites, media contacts, and existing partnerships. The data collection process spanned Sept. 15 to Sept. 29, 2023.

We then developed a quantitative model that scores each Medicare Advantage provider based on four major categories and 22 criteria that are crucial in evaluating the company's offerings and benefits.

We weighted the four categories as follows for this article:

• Plan features: 35%
• Plan quality and customer satisfaction: 30%
• Cost: 20%
• Availability: 15%

Read our full methodology for reviewing Medicare insurance providers.