Cigna Global health insurance for expats in Africa

Cigna Global Health Options is a modular international plan with three cover tiers, a narrower Close Care option and unusually fine control over the premium. IPMIAfrica explains how it works and how it fits life in Africa.

The four plans and what the tiers change

Cigna Global Health Options (CGHO) is Cigna's international private medical insurance (IPMI) for expatriates. Rather than selling fixed bundles, it starts every member on an inpatient core and lets you build upward: choose a cover tier, add the modules you want, then decide how much of each claim you are willing to carry yourself. Cigna Close Care sits alongside the three main tiers as a cheaper, narrower-area plan for people who mostly need cover where they live.

The tiers differ first on the annual overall benefit maximum, which is the most the plan will pay for one person in one policy year.

Platinum is described as paid in full subject to the annual overall benefit maximum in the plan documentation. Cover runs in terms of three to twelve months and renews.

What the modules add

Every plan includes inpatient and day-patient treatment: hospital stays, surgery and cancer care. On top of that core you can add:

• Outpatient: GP and specialist consultations, diagnostics and prescriptions, with the detail depending on the tier and module chosen.
• International Health and Wellbeing: an optional module covering screening and wellness benefits.
• International Evacuation and Crisis Assistance Plus: an optional module for medical evacuation and crisis support.

When you compare Cigna with another insurer, start with two numbers: the annual overall maximum above and the area of cover. Choosing worldwide excluding the USA, if you have no need to be treated there, is the single biggest saving available on the plan. Our guide to inpatient versus outpatient cover explains what the outpatient module actually buys you day to day.

Three levers for the premium

Cigna gives you more ways to shape the price than most insurers. The three levers work together:

1. Deductible: an amount you pay each year before the plan pays anything. The options available depend on your plan currency.
2. Cost share: after the deductible, you pay a fixed percentage of each claim, chosen from 0%, 10%, 20% or 30%. A higher share lowers the premium.
3. Out-of-pocket maximum: a ceiling on how much your cost share can add up to in one year, so a bad year has a known worst case.

The combination matters. Pairing a moderate deductible and cost share with an out-of-pocket cap is how many members bring a Gold-level plan close to a Silver-level price without giving up the higher limits. Read more on how these choices move the price in our cost guide for Africa.

Chronic conditions and underwriting

Two separate questions get mixed up here. The first is how an ongoing condition is supported once you are a member. Cigna's Chronic Condition Management programme is led by specialist nurses and supports members living with pre-diabetes, diabetes, high blood pressure, musculoskeletal pain and arthritis. It is designed as active help with managing the condition rather than only paying claims afterwards.

The second question is whether a condition you already have is covered at all when you join. That is decided by underwriting, where Cigna assesses your declared medical history and confirms what is covered, excluded or loaded before you buy. A few rules from Cigna's policy terms are worth knowing:

• Any change in your health between applying and your start date must be disclosed. Cigna can then adjust terms, add a premium or exclusion, or decline.
• Applications must be accurate and complete. Deliberately false information can void the policy.
• A newborn can be added without medical underwriting, a waiting period or a congenital exclusion if at least one parent has been continuously covered for twelve months or more before the birth and you apply within 30 days. Outside that window the baby is underwritten.
• A 14-day free-look lets you cancel for a full refund if no claim has been paid and no guarantee of payment issued.

The market's main underwriting bases, from full medical underwriting to moratorium and transfer terms, are explained in our pre-existing conditions guide. Which one you are offered shapes what is covered from day one, so it is worth getting right before you compare prices.

Using Cigna Global from Africa

For readers in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania or Mauritius, the area-of-cover decision does most of the work. The standard tiers are offered as worldwide or worldwide excluding the USA, and both include Africa, so a Silver, Gold or Platinum member is covered at home and when treated elsewhere in the area. Cigna does not publish a separate Africa-only region on this plan.

Close Care is the exception to think about carefully. It covers your country of residence and your country of nationality only. An expat living in Tanzania with British nationality would be covered in those two countries, but planned treatment in a third country would fall outside the plan. If your realistic plan for serious illness involves travelling for care, that narrower area may not suit you, and our guide to regional versus worldwide cover walks through that trade-off.

Plan limits are published in US dollars, and the deductible options you are offered depend on your plan currency. Direct billing is available at in-network facilities by showing the Cigna Healthcare ID card, and the Provider Search tool in the online Customer Area lists in-network hospitals, clinics and specialists by location. Most outpatient treatment needs no prior authorisation; exceptions include genetic testing, infertility treatment, physiotherapy, chiropractic or osteopathy beyond ten sessions, and prescribed drugs beyond three months. In an emergency, Cigna's instruction is to get treatment first, show the card for direct billing, then contact customer care.

Who Cigna Global suits

Cigna is a strong fit if you want to choose your own balance of limits and price through the deductible, cost share and out-of-pocket cap, if you value nurse-led support for a chronic condition, and if a large international network with direct billing matters to you.

It is worth comparing alternatives if you only need cover where you live, where Close Care or a regional plan from another insurer may be cheaper, if you are price-led at the entry level, or if you want a different underwriting basis. IPMIAfrica shows Cigna next to the rest of the market on the same inputs. See the Cigna versus Allianz and Cigna versus IMG comparisons, or browse all insurers we cover.

Frequently asked questions

This page is general information, not personal or medical advice, and is based on Cigna Global Health Options plan documentation; exact terms, limits and underwriting are confirmed by the insurer at quote. Prices are indicative. Cigna and the Cigna logo are trademarks of the Cigna group of companies.