Northwell, Cigna reached insurance deal after letter went out

Cigna policyholders who received a letter saying Northwell would no longer accept their health insurance can disregard the mailing, officials said Thursday.

Northwell Health said it has reached an agreement with Cigna that keeps all Northwell hospitals, physicians, laboratories, home health and other providers in the Cigna network.

Bloomfield, Connecticut-based Cigna had sent a note to policyholders on Nov. 30 that Northwell was leaving the Cigna network.

Northwell said in a statement that policyholders should “disregard” the letter.

Cigna spokeswoman Courtney Nogas said any customer who used a Northwell Health hospital in the past 18 months would have received the letter. She did not say how many letters were sent.

Nogas added that the letter was sent in accordance with compliance requirements and that a follow-up letter will be sent to customers this week.

New Hyde Park-based Northwell said it handles 40,000 inpatient and outpatient visits from Cigna customers annually.

With about 63,500 employees, Northwell is the largest private employer in the state. The system operates 22 hospitals, 600 outpatient facilities and has nearly 15,000 affiliated physicians in greater New York.

Overall, Northwell said it treated more than 2 million patients and had 600,000 emergency visits in 2016.