Cigna Medicare Part D 2022 Review

Cigna is the fifth-largest company offering Medicare Part D plans . Nearly 3 million Medicare beneficiaries have Cigna Part D plans as of April 2022.

If you’re looking for a high-coverage Medicare Part D plan, Cigna offers some of the lowest prices, on average. Overall star ratings from the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services for Cigna’s stand-alone Medicare Part D plans are about average.

Here’s what you should know about Cigna Medicare Part D prescription drug plans.

Medicare prescription drug plans from Cigna have advantages and disadvantages.

Medicare beneficiaries with Original Medicare (Part A and/or Part B) can purchase a Medicare Part D plan for prescription drug coverage. Part D plans are sold by private insurance companies. The costs and coverage can vary significantly, so it’s important to compare options.

For 2022, Cigna has reduced its range of offerings for prescription drug plans, or PDPs, from six to three. It has consolidated previous years’ Express Scripts branded plans into similar Cigna plans. While fewer plans are available, all of Cigna’s PDPs still have $0-copay options for certain medications if they're purchased through a qualifying mail order.

Cigna offers all three of its stand-alone Medicare Part D plans in all of its markets.

Cigna Medicare Part D premiums and deductibles

» If you have concerns about affording Medicare Part D, look into Medicare Extra Help.

Cigna Medicare Part D drug formulary tiers

A formulary is a list of the prescription drugs covered by an insurance plan. The plans often organize different kinds of drugs into tiers according to the cost of the drugs.

Each tier has copay or coinsurance requirements. You’ll generally pay more for drugs listed in higher tiers up to Tier 4, but Tier 5 specialty drugs have a lower coinsurance requirement than Tier 4 drugs. Tier 6 drugs have the lowest out-of-pocket costs.

The drugs included in tiers and what you’ll pay for each tier depends on your choice of prescription drug plan and what kind of pharmacy you use. For example, Cigna plans often have the lowest copays for 90-day supplies from their preferred mail-order pharmacies. Retail pharmacies and smaller quantities from preferred mail-order pharmacies often have low copays, and you’ll pay more at a standard (non-preferred) pharmacy.

All three of Cigna’s plans have no deductible for drugs in Tier 1 and Tier 2. The Secure Rx and Extra Rx plans also waive the deductible for certain other drugs.

Some plans offer $0 copays for Tier 1 or Tier 6 drugs, while other tiers have coinsurance requirements that can quickly get more expensive. As a result, it’s important to check where your medications and pharmacies fall on each plan’s formulary.

You can enter your medications and pharmacy information on Cigna’s website to see which drugs are covered and review your estimated costs with different plan options.

Average Part D star rating: 3.75

The Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services rates Medicare Part D plans on 12 quality measures. (You can find definitions for each of these factors in the CMS Star Ratings Technical Notes .)

These ratings use a 5-point scale where 5 is the best and 1 is the worst. The agency bases its ratings on drug plans’ quality of service and customer experiences, and ratings are updated annually.

Based on the most recent year of data, stand-alone Cigna plans get an average of 3.75 stars. The 2022 average for all stand-alone Medicare Part D plans from all providers, weighted by enrollment, was 3.7 stars .

Compare Cigna Part D star ratings

Stand-alone Medicare Part D plans from Cigna outperformed the national average on six Part D measures, but fell behind the national average on the other six measures.

American Customer Satisfaction Index: 68 out of 100

The American Customer Satisfaction Index, or ACSI, rates consumer satisfaction with products and services based on a scientific model developed at the University of Michigan. Ratings are derived from surveys that measure consumers’ expectations and perceived quality and value of products and services.

In 2021, Cigna scored 68 out of 100 on the ACSI health insurance satisfaction benchmark . ACSI measures satisfaction with the health insurance industry as a whole — Cigna’s score represents all of its health insurance products, not just Medicare Part D insurance. For comparison, the highest score was 75 and the health insurance industry average was 73.

AM Best Financial Strength Rating: A

AM Best is a credit rating agency that specializes in the insurance industry. In March 2021, AM Best affirmed its Financial Strength Rating, or FSR, of A (Excellent) for Cigna Corp., including its U.S. life/health subsidiaries and health maintenance organizations .

An A rating in this category indicates that AM Best believes Cigna has an excellent ability to meet its ongoing insurance obligations.

Cigna, headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut, was created in 1982 when Connecticut General Corp., or CG, and the Insurance Company of North America — known as INA — merged. Cigna offers health insurance for individuals and families, dental insurance, Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, Medicare Supplement Insurance, and other insurance coverage such as whole life and cancer treatment insurance. The company also offers insurance for businesses. In 2021, Cigna posted $174.1 billion in adjusted revenues.

The interactive tool on Medicare.gov can help find a Medicare Part D plan that covers your prescriptions and compare costs among Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plans available to you.

Here are some things to keep in mind when comparing plans:

If your plan does change, and the change affects the prescription drugs you need, you can switch plans during Medicare's open enrollment period , Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. Changes go into effect on the following Jan. 1.

If you have additional questions about Medicare, visit  Medicare.gov or call 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227, TTY 877-486-2048).