EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)— Hundreds of employees at the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) who have health insurance coverage under Cigna have been notified by the Hospitals of Providence that they may lose in-network coverage at their hospitals and outpatient care centers at the start of next year.
Ross Moore, president of the El Paso American Federation of Teachers (AFT), shared a picture with KTSM 9 News of the notices he said his members have received from The Hospitals of Providence.
The letter read as follows:
“Dear Valued Patient,
We’re writing to inform you of a potential disruption in your Cigna Healthcare commercial plan coverage with The Hospitals of Providence. Despite our ongoing efforts, we have not reached a new agreement with Cigna, and our current contract will expire at the end of this year.
If an agreement is not reached, our healthcare network will no longer be in-network for you and your loved ones covered by Cigna’s commercial plan starting January 1, 2026. This includes our hospitals, outpatient care centers and health system employed physicians.
We’re negotiating in good faith to keep your care in-network, but Cigna’s latest proposal puts care at risk. It includes hospital reimbursement rate increases that are well below inflation rates, cuts to physician and ambulatory surgery care — care that’s more convenient and affordable than hospital visits — and fails to improve the patient approval process for treatments your doctor says are needed.
Meanwhile, Cigna reported a 10% increase in premium revenue per member for its employer plans. This means patients will be paying more, while Cigna is willing to disrupt access to trusted healthcare providers and potentially increase your out-of-pocket costs.”
Moore said that over half of his members have health coverage under Cigna, and he estimated that’s about 1,600 employees. That includes teachers, counselors, paraprofessionals, custodians, and more.
“I see three outcomes to it. One, Cigna wins, and things stay the same; that’s the best case. The second worst case is Cigna agrees, and there’s a roughly 10% increase in premiums, co-pays, and all that for anything with Tenant hospitals. Worst case is Tenant doesn’t back down, Cigna loses the contract with them, and now we’re scrambling,” Moore said.
He said the AFT has been going over with their members what things they should be doing now to prepare for the worst outcome ahead of time.
“Find a new, primary care provider that accepts your Cigna in-network. That’s a major event and any specialist coverage as well. Schedule a consultation just to see if it’s a fit for your family,” Moore said. “And people are going to have to do this several times over between kids and pediatricians and things like that. So this is a lot of time, transferring medical records, getting prescriptions, there’s a lot that has to be done. And if you’re trying to scramble on December 30th. It’s not going to work.”
Moore said that while the outcome of negotiations between Cigna and Tenet is out of EPISD’s control, he urged them to work with their employees by alleviating their workload, so that they have time to review their options in the event they lose in-network coverage with Tenet.
“I’m calling on EPISD that if it comes to the worst case, be compassionate to your employees. Give them the time to do all these things. They’re going to need it. And that’ll include EPISD cutting back workloads a little bit. Needless paperwork that doesn’t help them,” Moore said.
EPISD, meanwhile, responded to KTSM’s request for comment on what options are being considered in the event negotiations between Cigna and Tenet fall through.
“El Paso ISD is aware of ongoing contract negotiations between Cigna Healthcare and Tenet Health Network (The Hospitals of Providence). This type of negotiation process between healthcare providers and insurance carriers is a standard part of their annual renewal cycle. At this time, there has been no change to coverage for EPISD employees, and Cigna continues to work toward reaching an agreement with Tenet Health Network before the current contract period ends. We are monitoring the situation closely and remain in communication with Cigna to ensure that our employees continue to have access to quality healthcare services.”
Moore said that he wouldn’t support if Cigna and Tenet were able to reach a deal that would cost his members more expensive premiums.
“(If they reach a deal) and go to option two, which is passing through a 10% rate increase, I would fight that. They’ve already increased the rates by 15% this year. My members can’t afford anymore. And when you add in the increases in Medicare and Medicaid that are hitting, I saw a guy show me his bill. It went from $480 to almost $900. And we’ve got EPISD employees on it. I’ve got members on Medicare, and we’ve got members on Medicaid that’s going away,” Moore said.
Both Tenet and Cigna also responded to KTSM’s request for comment, blaming one another for the current impasse in negotiations.
“We have been negotiating in good faith to reach a reasonable agreement, but Cigna’s current offer is well below inflation and will reduce reimbursement for physicians and ambulatory surgery centers. This will make it challenging for The Hospitals of Providence to maintain the same level of access to high-quality health care that our community relies on and deserves. This is a pattern for Cigna, an insurance company who has had several public disputes with health systems, ignoring the immense stress it places on patients and families. We strongly encourage members of the community to visit www.KeepYourHealthcareAccess.com for more information and to sign the petition urging Cigna to maintain their access to high-quality health care,” Tenet’s statement read.
“It’s disappointing that Tenet is choosing to terminate our contract and stoking fear among patients as a negotiating tactic. Unfortunately, Tenet is seeking rates that far exceed the rate of inflation on health care services, which would make their hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers much more expensive than other local facilities. We remain committed to negotiating in good faith to reach a fair and reasonable agreement that offers Tenet market-competitive rates and keeps Tenet in our network. If Tenet chooses to leave our network in January, we will do everything we can for patients to ease the transition, and current patients may be able to continue seeing their doctor for urgent services,” Cigna’s statement read.
Moore shared a message for both Cigna and Tenet:
“If they’re listening. This is not the time. Tenet is a very healthy company. You need to wait until the health care coverage system stabilizes. And in the interim, I’m not siding with either company. Do the right thing and do it well,” Moore said.
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