Therapists join Cigna through Evernorth Behavioral Health, Cigna's behavioral subsidiary: submit the online Provider Information Form with your CAQH ID, get contacted within 21 business days, and complete credentialing within about 90 days. Read the participation agreement before signing: it typically enrolls you in Cigna's EAP network at a lower flat rate alongside the commercial network.
Two things about Cigna credentialing surprise therapists. The first is that "Cigna" never shows up: every form, portal, and letter says Evernorth. The second appears months later on an EOB, when some Cigna clients turn out to have been EAP clients all along, paying a flat rate you agreed to without knowing it.
Who actually credentials you?
Evernorth Behavioral Health. Cigna rebranded its behavioral arm as Evernorth in 2020, and everything provider-facing moved with it. Credentialing correspondence comes from Evernorth. The provider portal is provider.evernorth.com, not Cigna's medical portal. The provider relations line is Evernorth's (1-800-274-7603). Therapists who don't know this discard Evernorth letters as junk mail or spend weeks asking Cigna's medical line about an application it can't see.
The one place the split bites silently is CAQH: depending on when the payer list was updated, the authorization entry may appear as Cigna, Evernorth, or both. Authorize every entry you find. An unauthorized profile is the most common reason an Evernorth file stalls with no letter to tell you why.
How does the application work?
You start with the Evernorth Behavioral Provider Information Form, a short online form (it runs on a Salesforce site, cignathn.my.salesforce-sites.com) asking for your license, NPI, practice details, and CAQH ID. There's no fee and no document upload at this stage; the documents live in CAQH ProView, which Evernorth pulls once your form is in.
Evernorth commits to reaching out within 21 business days of the form with next steps on credentialing and contracting, and describes the full join-the-network process as taking up to 90 days. That holds up in practice when the CAQH profile is clean: 60–90 days is the normal range, which puts Cigna alongside Aetna at the fast end of the four majors. Independent licensure and a 1M/3M malpractice policy are hard prerequisites, so pre-licensed clinicians can't hold their own Evernorth contract.
While the form is open, get the identity details right, because Evernorth's verification is CAQH-against-NPPES like everyone else's: your name, license number, and practice address must match character-for-character across the form, your CAQH profile, and your NPI record. A mismatched entry generates no rejection letter, only silence while the file waits for someone to reconcile it.
Once credentialing clears, Evernorth sends the participation agreement, and your effective date is set when both sides have signed. Registration at provider.evernorth.com is where you'll live afterward: fee schedules, claims, eligibility, and the directory profile that determines whether Cigna members can actually find you.
The EAP clause: read before you sign
Evernorth's standard participation agreement commonly enrolls you in the employee assistance program network in the same signature as the commercial network. EAP sessions don't bill like therapy: they're authorized in advance by the EAP, billed as CPT 99404 (not 90837 with a modifier), and paid at a flat per-session EAP rate that's usually well below your commercial rate.
| Commercial Cigna session | Cigna EAP session | |
|---|---|---|
| CPT code | 90837 / 90834 | 99404 |
| Authorization | Generally none for routine care | Required: the EAP issues an authorization code |
| Client cost | Copay / deductible | $0 to the client |
| Your rate | Your contracted fee schedule | Flat EAP rate, typically lower |
| Session limit | Plan benefits | Fixed count (often 3–8 sessions) |
The clause typically surfaces months after signing, when EOB reconciliation turns up a stack of 99404s paying roughly two-thirds of the contracted 90837 rate. Nothing improper has happened: the EAP network was in the contract. It just goes unread, because nothing in the signing process points you at it.
EAP work can be worth keeping: it brings steady referral volume with zero client collections, and some practices build on it deliberately. The problem is only ever discovering the rate after the sessions. So ask before signing:
Email or ask your Evernorth contracting contact. Keep the answers in writing with the contract.
Re: participation agreement for [NAME], NPI [NPI], CAQH ID [CAQH ID]
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Does this agreement enroll me in the EAP network in addition to the commercial behavioral network? If yes, is commercial-only participation available, and what do I need to change before signing?
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Please send the fee schedule for my license type and state covering 90837, 90834, 90791, and, if I am EAP-participating, the flat rate for 99404 EAP sessions.
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For EAP referrals: how many sessions does a typical authorization cover, and how do I confirm whether a new client is presenting under EAP or under their commercial benefit before the first session?
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If I join EAP now and want to leave the EAP network later while staying commercial, what is the process and the required notice period?
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What is my anticipated effective date, and will I appear in the provider directory on that date or later?
Ask new Cigna clients "is this through your employee assistance program?" at intake, every time. The EAP authorization determines the billing path before the first session, and it is far easier to clarify then than to rebill later.
What does Cigna pay?
| CPT code | Session type | Rate range |
|---|---|---|
| 90837 | 60-min therapymost common | $68–$151 |
| 90834 | 45-min therapy | $63–$105 |
| 90791 | Initial evaluation | $70–$161 |
| 90847 | Family therapy | $67–$118 |
| 90785 | Interactive add-on | $3–$13 |
Ranges are P20–P80 from CMS Transparency in Coverage data. Rates vary by state, locality, and contract negotiation. Look up rates by state, payer, and CPT code
For state-by-state medians across every CPT code, see the full Cigna reimbursement rates page.
Cigna's CMS Transparency in Coverage filings show the widest floor-to-ceiling spread of the four majors, with a notably low floor. That makes the national range less useful than usual: in a strong Cigna market you're competitive with anyone; in a weak one, the math may not clear your costs. Run your own state's numbers against the other payers in the rate comparison guide before deciding how much Cigna volume you want, and remember the EAP rate is a separate, lower number on top of this.
Is Cigna worth the application?
Usually yes, because the marginal cost is so low: the fast timeline and the CAQH-based process mean Cigna adds little work to a first wave of applications that already includes Aetna, Anthem, and UHC. Where it ranks in that wave depends on who insures employed adults in your market. The which-panels guide gives the full decision framework, and paneled.ai files all four majors concurrently for $300, one-time, if you'd rather hand the portals off.
Panel acceptance is Evernorth's call and no one can promise it. What you control is a clean CAQH profile, the right portal vocabulary (Evernorth, not Cigna), and a contract you actually read before signing. The EAP clause is three minutes of reading before you sign.
Common questions
- Is Evernorth the same as Cigna?
- For therapists, yes. Evernorth Behavioral Health is Cigna's behavioral health subsidiary and has run credentialing, contracting, and claims for Cigna's behavioral network since the 2020 rebrand. A letter from Evernorth about your application is your Cigna application. There is no separate Cigna-side process to check.
- How long does Cigna credentialing take for therapists?
- Evernorth says the full join-the-network process takes up to 90 days, and it commits to contacting you within 21 business days of your Provider Information Form. In practice 60 to 90 days is typical with a complete CAQH profile, making Cigna one of the faster majors.
- How do I apply to be in-network with Cigna as a therapist?
- Submit the Evernorth Behavioral Health Provider Information Form online with your CAQH ID, license, and NPI. Evernorth reaches out within 21 business days with credentialing and contracting next steps, pulls your data from CAQH ProView, and sends a participation agreement once credentialing clears.
- Does joining Cigna mean I have to take EAP clients?
- Often, yes, unless you ask. Evernorth participation agreements commonly enroll you in the employee assistance program network alongside the commercial network. EAP sessions are billed as CPT 99404 at a flat EAP rate that is usually lower than your commercial 90837 rate. You can ask to contract for commercial only before signing.
- How much does Cigna pay for a 60-minute therapy session?
- CMS Transparency in Coverage filings show Cigna paying roughly $68 to $151 for CPT 90837 across the middle of its national distribution, a wide spread with a low floor, so checking rates for your own state before applying matters more with Cigna than with most payers.
The paneled.ai team · Credentialing specialists. We file and track insurance credentialing applications for behavioral health providers every day — these guides come from what we see go wrong (and right) in real applications.