City of Tucson Integrates CIGNA’s Medical, Dental Plans for Employees, Reducing Coverage Costs

The City of Tucson, one of the largest employers in Pima County, has selected CIGNA (NYSE: CI) as its dental coverage carrier. Beginning July 1, nearly 6,000 City of Tucson employees and retirees may choose a dental PPO (DPPO) or HMO (DHMO) plan, providing access to a broad network of general dentists and specialists practicing in the Tucson area. The City already offers CIGNA's health care plans and services to its employees (see also Dentistry).

"By combining dental with medical under CIGNA, we reduce annual health coverage costs by more than $600,000," said Cindy Bezaury, City Human Resources Director. "Equally important is that we can continue to give our employees access to programs and services to help them stay healthy."

Offering medical and dental plans through CIGNA allows City of Tucson employees to participate in integrated programs including the CIGNA WellAware for Better Health® disease management program and CIGNA's Oral Health Integration Program® .The oral health integration program is designed to help eliminate cost as a barrier for people with chronic health conditions or for women who are pregnant. Research suggests there may be a link between gum disease and certain medical conditions or pre-term birth. This program provides additional treatments for gum disease to people with these conditions. City employees can also use many online dental health resources and interactive tools like CIGNA's periodontal and cavity risk assessment tools and dental treatment cost estimator.

"CIGNA's combined strengths in dental and medical fit well with the City of Tucson's employees' needs," said Julie Vayer, vice president for CIGNA's Dental & Behavioral networks. "Adding dental gives us the chance to provide even greater access to the additional tools and resources we have available."

Dentists interested in joining CIGNA's network will find the electronic on-boarding system easy to use. To request participation information, please call 1.800.CIGNA24 (1.800.244.6224). About CIGNA CIGNA (NYSE:CI), a global health service company, is dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense of security. CIGNA Corporation's operating subsidiaries provide an integrated suite of medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy and vision care benefits, as well as group life, accident and disability insurance, to approximately 46 million people throughout the United States and around the world. People covered by a CIGNA dental plan can choose their dentists from one of the largest dental HMO and dental PPO networks in the United States. To learn more about CIGNA, visit www.cigna.com. To sign up for email alerts or an RSS feed of company news, log on to http://newsroom.cigna.com/rss/. Also, follow us on Twitter: @cigna and visit CIGNA's YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/cignatv.