Podcast Summary: Expanding Access to Affordable Dental Care with Cigna Healthcare and Paytient

Podcast: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Episode: Expanding Access to Affordable Dental Care with Cigna Healthcare and Paytient
Date: October 26, 2025
Host: Jacob Emerson
Guest: Dave Rakhani, Vice President of Innovation, Market Insights and Communications, Cigna Healthcare (Dental & Vision)

Episode Overview

This episode delves into Cigna Healthcare’s recent expansion of its partnership with Paytient (misstated as “Patient” in transcript) to increase access to affordable dental care for its members. Dave Rakhani shares insights on their innovative flexible dental payment program, its impact on preventive and critical dental procedures, the positive outcomes already observed, and the broader implications for healthcare affordability. The conversation also touches on scalability, cross-benefit applications, and the potential to improve equity for underserved populations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to Dave Rakhani and His Role (00:21-01:03)

• Dave has been with Cigna for 23 years, with broad experience across marketing, strategy, and business development.
• Currently focuses on innovation and market insights for dental and vision.

2. What Is the Flexible Dental Payment Initiative? (01:03-03:32)

• Purpose: Remove cost barriers to receiving dental care, even for insured members who might struggle with out-of-pocket costs.
• How it Works:
  • Partnership with Paytient to offer an employer-sponsored, on-demand credit line for healthcare expenses.
  • No interest or fees to employees; employers have no credit risk.
  • Employers control the benefit design, including what expenses are eligible, credit limits, and repayment schedule.
  • Reduces risk and bad debt for providers by facilitating patient payments.

“We wanted to make sure we could find ways to help people remove that barrier and get the most out of their benefits.”
— Dave Rakhani, 01:36

3. Expansion and Current Reach of the Program (03:57-04:45)

• Started with a 2024 pilot for large employers (>3,000 employees); recently expanded to mid-sized employers (500–3,000 employees).
• Now 13 million Cigna-covered individuals are eligible for the program.

“With that expansion... 13 million of our covered individuals, our customers nationwide, who are actually eligible for this program.”
— Dave Rakhani, 04:17

4. Early Results & Impact on Preventive and Critical Care (04:56-08:55)

• Motivation: Cost is the top reason for skipping dental care, even among the insured.
• Key Findings:
  • Out-of-pocket dental costs (e.g., crowns, root canals) often exceed standard yearly coverage caps.
  • 40% of adults have skipped dental visits for financial reasons (industry survey).
  • Measurable increases in preventive and critical dental procedures in program users.
• Engagement Metrics:
  • ~20% of eligible employees sign up.
  • 11% activate the Paytient VISA card.
  • 70% card activations result in a transaction; 90% of those users transact multiple times.
• Health Impact:
  • Most common increased procedures: fillings, crowns, oral surgery.
  • 93% of surveyed users said they would have skipped care without the program.
• Satisfaction:
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS): 83 (exceptionally high for healthcare).
  • 4.9/5 Trustpilot rating.

“93% of them actually said they would have skipped care if they didn’t have access to the Patient card, which is exactly the type of behavior we were hoping to influence.”
— Dave Rakhani, 08:41

“We’re seeing, first of all, people engaging with the solution and using it the way we want them to.”
— Dave Rakhani, 07:13

5. Long-term Cost Savings and Employer/Plan Impact (09:20-10:40)

• Prevention Pays: Each $1 invested in oral prevention saves $8-$50 in restorative or emergency dental treatment.
• Medical Spillover: Real dollar savings are greater in the medical field (hospital, inpatient, specialist care).
• Average medical cost savings for those active in preventive dental care: just over 6%.

“Preventive oral care really does play a crucial role in lowering healthcare costs over a person’s lifetime.”
— Dave Rakhani, 09:40

6. Potential for Expansion Beyond Dental (11:00-12:40)

• Interest from Employers: Employers want flexible payments for all healthcare benefits—not just dental.
• Program Availability:
  • Now can be offered for dental only OR across all healthcare benefits, even if other benefits are not through Cigna.
  • Looking to expand to clients not currently in Cigna’s dental portfolio.

“Employers... would actually want to offer this across their healthcare benefits, not just for dental. So across medical, pharmacy, behavioral health, vision, etc.”
— Dave Rakhani, 11:12

7. Addressing Social Determinants & Equity (12:59-14:28)

• Targeted Impact: Program especially benefits lower-wage workers and those with significant social determinants of health (SDOH) challenges.
• Early Data: Higher program utilization among individuals from communities facing greater financial barriers.

“We’re actually seeing higher utilization amongst individuals who have higher SDOH or SDI challenges than the general population.”
— Dave Rakhani, 14:12

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the program’s purpose:
  “Even though somebody might have coverage, they might have insurance, it doesn’t mean that they can necessarily afford to use their benefits all the time.” (B, 01:36)

• On program expansion:
  “We’ve actually now got across our book of business, 13 million of our covered individuals, our customers nationwide who are actually eligible for this program.” (B, 04:17)

• On addressing health equity:
  “There’s also a real opportunity to support, support diverse populations and kind of disproportionately provide assistance to people who struggle even more with, with the cost of care.” (B, 14:17)

• On measurable outcomes:
  “A net promoter score of 83, which in the healthcare industry is extremely high.” (B, 08:41)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:21 — Dave’s background and role
• 01:03 — Overview of the flexible dental payment program
• 03:57 — Expansion and eligibility update
• 04:56 — Program impact and early results
• 09:20 — Cost savings and employer/plan benefits
• 11:00 — Potential to expand model beyond dental
• 12:59 — Final thoughts on health equity and targeted benefits

Conclusion

Cigna’s partnership with Paytient is reshaping access to dental care by addressing real affordability barriers—not just insurance coverage gaps. With measurable upticks in preventive and critical dental care, strong user engagement, and high satisfaction rates, the program positions Cigna as an innovator in value-based, patient-centric benefit design. Early evidence also points toward disproportionate benefits for underserved populations, making this a promising model for supporting health equity as it scales to other domains of healthcare.