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County seeks to switch health‑plan administration to UnitedHealthcare after repeated Cigna service complaints
Summary
Staff recommended moving the county's self‑insured plan administration from Cigna to UnitedHealthcare/UMR, citing persistent claims‑processing and service problems. Commissioners and several staff recounted mixed individual experiences; staff said the procurement and timing allow switching without a full re‑RFP because United was a responsive second bidder on the original contract.
County administrators recommended a transition of the countys self‑insured employee health plan administration from Cigna to UnitedHealthcare/UMR after several years of service problems cited by staff and employees. The county administrator and benefits staff said the change is supported by appointing authority representatives and that timing allows implementation before open enrollment. The procurement rationale is that UnitedHealthcare was the second‑lowest responsive bidder in the prior procurement, which staff said permits a change within purchasing rules without an entirely new RFP process.
Several commissioners recounted personal and constituent experiences with Cigna customer service and telehealth vendor problems; Commissioner Flowers detailed a July telehealth episode in which he said a clinician prescribed medication that conflicted with a listed allergy and that follow‑up from the carrier took weeks. "I was very upset because if I had inhaled that and I was home by myself, there's no guarantee I would have been able to call for help," he said. Staff acknowledged the transition will involve implementation challenges and said they chose the path they believe best preserves provider network access and claims discounts while addressing ongoing service reliability concerns.
