NO RUN OF THE MILL HEALTH INSURANCE PROVIDER
BY NICOLA WISSLER
Cigna is a global health service company dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense of security. They are also a company that is dedicated to helping their local community. They are committed to improving the community one customer and employee at a time. I recently sat down with Karen Baker, local manager at CIGNA, who expressed that CIGNA is a fantastic place to work with many client services and employee benefits that also benefit the community. Background: CIGNA has been in Visalia since 1984, and currently employs more than 600 people in the Visalia Service Center, located on Tulare Ave. CIGNA provides medical and dental health plans for everyone from Fortune 100 multinational companies to mom and pop businesses – and all types of employers in between. CIGNA recognizes that their clients want to have healthy employees; to decrease absenteeism and increase “presentee-ism.” CIGNA understands that health care costs continue to increase, and they try to provide long-term affordabile options through a variety of products and services. By helping employees improve their health, client companies improve their productivity and reduce long-term costs. Something most people don’t know is that over the past few years CIGNA has changed it focus. They have moved away from just processing claims, and have redirected their focus to improving people’s health and productivity. They are able to do this by analyzing individual claims and identifying potential health risks even before someone goes to their doctor. CIGNA provides health coaching for customers and their employees/families. Some of the
available health coaches include – nurses, clinician and dieticians who help individuals to lose weight or change bad health habits. A few other things that make CIGNA a unique company are some of the benefits they provide to their employees. Because the CIGNA call center is open 24 hours a day, they allow many of their employees the flexibility to work from home. This not only reduces their overhead cost it also allows for employees to balance their work and home life. Another interesting benefit is that all employees of CIGNA are given eight hours of paid volunteer time per year. This means that CIGNA employees can be involved in their local community without having to use vacation time or take unpaid time off. CIGNA has partnered with the following organizations in the past: United Way of Tulare County, the SPCA, Valley Children’s Hospital, the March of Dimes and Relay for Life. Baker is now responsible for the volunteer activities for the Visalia Service Center and her goal is for every single CIGNA employee to take advantage of the paid volunteer time. This could result in more than 4800 hours of volunteer time spent in the local community. Baker is looking for local nonprofit organizations to partner with, and be added to the approved list of charities that CIGNA employees can volunteer with. If you know of an organization needing volunteers, please contact Baker at Karen.Baker@CIGNA.com or call 559-735-8367. It is clear CIGNA is not just a run of the mill Health Insurance provider. CIGNA is a company that believes in giving back to their community by providing new services to their clients as well as additional benefits to their employees.
KEYS TO CIGNA’S SUCCESS 1. Always available. Call centers are open 24/7/365. 2. Supportive. No matter what is needed, resources and personal attention provided to help client employees manage their condition. 3. The customer is in control. Reach out to customers to nip problems in the bud: Help customers choose the best doctors, hospitals and prices.
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