New pact ends any ongoing payment disputes between Cigna and Radiology Partners affiliate

A Radiology Partners-affiliated practice has reached an in-network deal with health insurer Cigna. 

Singleton Associates, P.A., announced Wednesday it has inked a multiyear partnership with the Bloomfield, Connecticut, payer effective June 1. The deal will allow the health plan’s commercial beneficiaries to access imaging services from the 66-year-old, Houston-based radiology practice. 

RP noted that the pact will end pending payment disputes between Singleton and Cigna, “yielding immediate and significant” “savings for all parties.” 

“Bringing high-quality radiology care in network doesn’t just improve patient access—it lowers healthcare costs and simplifies the system for everyone,” Rich Whitney, MBA, CEO of El Segundo, California-based Rad Partners, said in a statement April 23. “By avoiding thousands of unnecessary [No Surprises Act (NSA)] disputes, we’re helping employers reduce administrative costs and focus resources where they matter most: on patient care.”

The landmark law first went into effect in January 2022, establishing an arbitration process to help physicians settle payment disputes over out-of-network care. Last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released new NSA data, showing Rad Partners initiated the most payment disputes among providers in the first half of 2024. RP launched nearly 110,000 disputes through June, or 22% of the total in Q1 and 15% in Q2. Cigna, meanwhile, initiated nearly 23,000 in the first half of 2024 (or 4% of all payer-propelled reimbursement disputes in both quarters). 

Raw No Surprises Act data show multiple payment disputes between Singleton Associates and Cigna last year. A few random examples:  

• A CT scan of the upper spine with contrast submitted in Q1 of 2024. The dispute took 190 days to settle, resulting in a $490 payment determination at the RP-requested 408% of the “qualifying payment amount” determined by the insurer (Cigna had offered 0% of QPA). 
• A CT scan of abdomen and pelvis without contrast, submitted in Q1 of 2024. The dispute took 167 days to settle, resulting in a $700 payment determination at the RP-requested 787% of the QPA (Cigna had offered 220% of QPA). 
• An MRI scan of both breasts in Q1 of 2024. The dispute took 141 days to settle, resulting in a $350 payment at the RP-requested 739% of the QPA (Cigna had offered 259%). 

Radiology Partners has faced multiple recent challenges from payers questioning its use of the No Surprises Act arbitration system. Most recently, Aetna sued the practice in December, claiming after it knocked Mori, Bean and Brooks out of network in 2022, Rad Partners improperly continued billing all of its Florida work through MBB. This resulted in RP initiating “tens of thousands” disputes through the No Surprises Act. 

Rad Partners fired back in February, noting this noted that this was a “decades long” contract with MBB, a “leading” physician group in Florida. Aetna “unilaterally” pushed the practice out of network in 2022, forcing MBB to settle disputes through the No Surprises Act. Government-approved, neutral arbitrators have ruled in Rad Partner and its affiliates’ favor 98% of the time against Aetna, RP noted. The insurer, and not physicians, is the one controlling this high volume of disputes, it contends, by “underpaying thousands of claims.” 

Radiologists have been “especially” successful in NSA disputes, notching payments 500% above the QPA, a 2024 analysis found. 

“This agreement marks a major win for the Texas payer and provider communities, exhibiting collaboration and leadership to expand the availability and cost-effectiveness of Singleton’s advanced, technology-enabled imaging services throughout the state,” Rad Partners said in the Cigna announcement Wednesday. “When Texas payers and providers work together to reach sustainable in-network agreements, self-funded employer groups in Texas are not burdened by the substantial costs of the federal No Surprises Act (NSA) Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process, thereby delivering materially lower costs and greater financial predictability for all parties involved,” RP added later. 

Cigna did not immediately respond to a Radiology Business request for comment Wednesday. 

Founded in 2012, Rad Partners is the largest radiology practice in the U.S., servicing over 3,400 hospitals and other facilities. It’s partially backed by Whistler Capital Partners and New Enterprise Associates.