Dive Brief:
- Cigna has announced the company is pulling its Florida health insurance plans from the exchange just two weeks before the bginning of open enrollment.
- The company emailed the news to Florida insurance brokers Thursday and said it planned to notify current customers by regular mail beginning this week.
- Cigna said the move is neccessary due to skyrocketing costs from fraud by out-of-network substance abuse clinics and labs.
Dive Insight:
Cigna is looking to change its strategy in Florida as a result of what company spokesman Joseph Mondy calls an "exponential increase in fraudulent and abusive care delivery practices" in the state.
According to the company's email, some clinics and labs have targeted Florida exchange plans that provide out-of-network benefits using referral kickbacks and excessive testing as some of their key strategies for abuse.
Cigna says it discovered the magnitude of the issue too late to get new plans approved for 2016, so it is pulling out for the year. The move will affect 30,000 people currently enrolled in Cigna plans through the Florida exchange.
Cigna plans to come back and offer exchange plans in Florida again in 2017 "with offerings that will ensure high quality, affordability, and sustainability for customers,” Mondy told Health News Florida.