Cigna: Health accounts cut first-year costs

Cigna Corp. (NYSE:CI) says it has evidence that use of a health account plan can lead to sharp reductions in an employer’s medical cost trend.

The company recently compared the claims experience of about 2.5 million employer plan enrollees who have traditional preferred provider organization (PPO) coverage, traditional health maintenance organization (HMO) coverage, or health coverage that includes either a health savings account (HSA) or a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA).

Enrollees in the health account plans lowered their level of health risk while reducing total medical costs, the company said.

Cigna health account plan medical cost trend was 13 percent lower than at traditional plans during the first year.

Costs were 20 percent lower for HSA customers and 11 percent lower for HRA participants.

The employers achieved the cost reductions without employers having to shift out-of-pocket health expenses to the employees, Cigna said.