Cigna, Kaiser chosen for Health and Welfare Trust’s group contracts

Pending approval of the trustees of the University of Colorado Health and Welfare Trust, group medical benefit contracts will be awarded to Cigna and Kaiser Permanente, effective July 1, 2012.

CU’s Payroll & Benefit Services (PBS), plan administrator for the trust, seeks competitive bids for its group medical benefits every three to five years. In August 2011, PBS issued a request for proposals (RFP) to solicit administrative services for the comprehensive medical benefits provided for the University of Colorado Health and Welfare Plan community. A selection committee, composed of University of Colorado, University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) and University Physicians Inc. (UPI), trust employer members and PBS staff evaluated the proposals.

The RFP covered employees’ and retirees’ primary needs – provider networks, access to care, convenience, innovation and flexibility, types of plans and cost. The selection committee recommended Cigna and Kaiser, because their proposals best addressed those criteria.

Cigna has over 66 million customer relationships around the world and is active in 29 countries. It offers nationwide provider networks, a strong local presence and a commitment to serving its customers. Cigna is the only national carrier to provide access to live customer service 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the year. Cigna also achieved the top ranking in Colorado for consumer satisfaction, according to the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

Kaiser serves approximately 5,800 CU Health and Welfare Trust members and more than 480,000 members in the Denver/Boulder and Colorado Springs areas. Kaiser physicians and care teams focus on prevention as well as managing health issues.

PBS is working with both Cigna and Kaiser to finalize the new plans, and will continue to provide updates on the transition.