Hartford health insurers Aetna, Cigna and UnitedHealthcare are providing disaster relief to Texas and Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, and Optum, UnitedHealthcare’s pharmacy provider, said they would provide resources for members. Aetna also is offering certain types of assistance for non-members.
At UnitedHealthcare and Optum, support includes assisting health plan participants who may need to make alternate arrangements to ensure continuity of care and access to early prescription refills, as well as a free emotional-support line to help people who might be affected.
Aetna is allowing affected members to refill their prescriptions early, and get a prescription at an alternate delivery location or refill a prescription that may have been lost, damaged or destroyed. Aetna also can help members who have been evacuated from their homes find care and behavioral health support, the company said and is extending claim and appeal filing times.
In addition, Aetna has opened its Resources for Living services to the community regardless of whether they are Aetna members or not. The service provides 24/7 telephone access for emotional support and daily living assistance.
The Aetna Foundation also will be making a $100,000 contribution to the American Red Cross, a $100,000 contribution to the Community Foundation of Greater Houston as well as a $50,000 contribution to Team Rubicon, to support current and forthcoming disaster relief efforts.
Cigna said it is expanding access to its 24×7 telephone help line to provide personal assistance and support for all residents in affected areas. In addition, Cigna and Cigna-HealthSpring have lifted prescription refill restrictions (“too soon to refill”) for customers in counties throughout South and Central Texas, and have also waived prior authorization requirements for acute medical care and behavioral health services in affected areas. (These areas may expand based on the path of the storm.)
To aid in the recovery efforts, the Cigna Foundation is making a $100,000 donation to the American Red Cross and the company is also activating an internal website that will enable Cigna employees to request matching funds for their donations to the Red Cross.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with information about Cigna.
