Cigna Global: Cigna Healthcare's modular international health insurance

Cigna Global is the international range for individuals of Cigna Healthcare, a subsidiary of The Cigna Group. The website states that policies are underwritten by Cigna Global Insurance Company Limited, a Guernsey company supervised by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.

The product information documents show, however, that the entity changes according to the country of residence: for residents of the European Union, the insurer is Cigna Life Insurance Company of Europe S.A.-N.V., a Belgian company supervised by the National Bank of Belgium; another entity covers the United Kingdom, and local licences apply in several Asian countries and in the Emirates. The policy to read is that of the entity shown on the certificate.

• Silver: overall annual limit of up to $1,000,000² per beneficiary; no routine maternity cover.
• Gold: overall annual limit of up to $2,000,000¹, maternity included.
• Platinum: cover stated with no numerical limit for hospitalisation, maternity included.

Enrolment is open from from 18 years⁷, with no stated maximum age. The core plan covers hospitalisation and day-patient care. Optional modules can be added for international outpatient care, prevention and wellbeing, dental and optical, and medical evacuation and repatriation: without this last module, evacuation is not included. The area is chosen between worldwide and worldwide excluding the United States; in the latter case, limited cover applies to emergency hospitalisation outside the area.

The annual deductible is chosen from a scale ranging from from $0⁴ to up to $10,000³. Optionally, a proportional cost share on each claim and an annual cap on out-of-pocket costs can be added. Failing to obtain prior approval for certain treatments, or using an out-of-network provider in the United States, reduces the reimbursement.

Maternity, reserved for the Gold and Platinum plans, is only available after the mother has been covered for from 12 months⁶; this period is extended to 24 months⁵ depending on where treatment takes place or the insuring entity, a period that also applies to obesity treatment. Other waiting periods apply to dental care and orthodontics in the corresponding module.

The exclusions in the product information document include, among others, cosmetic surgery that is not medically necessary, experimental treatment, the consequences of alcohol or substance use, self-inflicted injuries, surrogacy, developmental disorders and non-emergency treatment outside the chosen area.

The treatment of pre-existing conditions and the medical underwriting method (full questionnaire or moratorium) are not specified on the pages consulted; they are covered in the customer guide, which we were unable to read.

No price schedule is published: the price is given on quotation, in dollars on the website, according to age, area, plan, modules, deductible and cost share chosen. The absence of a stated maximum enrolment age says nothing about the level of premiums at older ages.

• The insuring entity and the regulator applicable to their country of residence.
• Taking out the evacuation and repatriation module, which is not included in the core plan.
• The maternity waiting period actually applicable at the planned place of birth.
• The customer guide and the policy rules, which alone set the exclusions and the treatment of pre-existing conditions.