BLOOMFIELD, CT – Members of CIGNA health plans have a new tool at their disposal to manage their healthcare costs.

The Bloomfield, Conn.-based insurer announced this week that it has made Intuit’s Quicken Health Expense Tracker available to members in its Open Access, PPO, Point of Service and HMO health plans. The online software allows members to organize, file and reconcile all healthcare financial information.

“Today our challenge is how we can make the process simpler and more effective for people as they take on more responsibility in managing their healthcare,” said Thomas Richards, CIGNA HealthCare’s senior vice president, in a press release. “A key facet of this process is making the management of healthcare expenses as easy and familiar as reconciling other household bills and finances. Being first to market with this innovative offering from Intuit is a very important step in our efforts to add the latest online capabilities to help people better understand how their health benefits work and how to get the most out of them.”

According to a recent survey conducted by Intuit, a Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of business and financial management solutions, 83 percent of Americans spend a “significant amount of time” organizing, filing and reconciling their healthcare financial information, but only 34 percent actually read and understand their explanation of benefits. Intuit officials say Quicken Health Expense Tracker not only gathers and organizes personal and pharmacy data, but offers explanations as well.

Among the companies to beta test the service was amusement park operator Six Flags, Inc.

“One of the reasons we chose CIGNA was their innovative approach to healthcare, and we believe Quicken Health Expense Tracker will change the way health expenses are handled in the future,” said Kathy Aslin, director of employee benefits at Six Flags. “Our employees have already found this system to be incredibly useful and easy to use. It helps them recognize, appreciate and better utilize the total value of the health benefits we provide for them. This tool delivers on its promise and, over time, will help drive down administrative costs as well.”