Cigna is an American multinational managed healthcare and insurance company based in Bloomfield, Connecticut.[4] Its insurance subsidiaries are major providers of medical, dental, disability, life and accident insurance and related products and services, the majority of which are offered through employers and other groups (e.g. governmental and non-governmental organizations, unions and associations). Cigna is incorporated in Connecticut.[5]
Cigna offers Medicare[6] and Medicaid products and health, life and accident insurance coverages primarily to individuals in the U.S.[7] and selected international markets. In addition to its ongoing operations described above, Cigna also has certain run-off operations, including a Run-off Reinsurance segment.[8] In the Phoenix metropolitan area, Cigna runs a full-service staff-model health maintenance organization with satellite clinics throughout the region, known as the Cigna Medical Group.[9] Cigna Global Health Benefits also operates under the Cigna corporation.
The company ranked No. 12 in the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.[10]
History
Cigna was formed by the 1982 merger of the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company (CG) and INA Corporation (the parent corporation of Insurance Company of North America, the first stock insurance company in America).[11] The company name, Cigna, is a mix of letters from the merging companies, CG and INA.[12] Insurance Company of North America was formed in 1792, while CG was created in 1865 by a special act of the Governor of Connecticut. In October 1871, the great Chicago Fire burned for two days, destroyed 2,000 acres, and left 100,000 people in Illinois homeless. INA paid $650,000, one of only 51 insurance companies (out of a total of 202) to pay claims in full.[13]
Before selling its domestic and international property and casualty business to the Bermuda-based ACE Insurance company in the late 1990s, Cigna was among the companies with a large international network comparable to those of AIG, Allianz, and Zurich. The strategy behind the sale was to concentrate on core business. ACE – at that time a key player at the Bermuda and Lloyds insurance market – on the other hand, was interested in expanding the international network in the traditional insurance market.[14]
Cigna sold the majority of its life insurance operations to Lincoln National Corporation in 1997.[15][16]
In 2002, it was alleged in violation of the Securities Exchange Act for earnings manipulation. Its common stock price plummeted significantly as a result.[17] In October 2011, Cigna agreed to buy HealthSpring Inc. for $3.8 billion to jump-start its business selling Medicare plans from 46,000 Medicare Advantage members to almost 400,000 Medicare Advantage members.[18] The payment would come from an issue of new equity to cover about 20 percent of the value, with the rest funded by additional cash and debt.[19][20] In 2013, Cigna operated in 30 countries, had approximately 35,800 employees and managed around US$53.734 billion in assets.[8]
In June 2015, U.S. health insurer Anthem Inc. announced that it would acquire Cigna for $47 billion in cash and stock.[21] Anthem confirmed it had reached a deal to buy Cigna on July 24, 2015.[22] On July 21, 2016, the US Justice Department filed an antitrust suit to block the proposed merger,[23] and a District Court ruling on February 8, 2017 blocked the merger on anticompetitive grounds.[24] That month, Cigna Corp. called off its $48 billion merger agreement with Anthem Inc., with Anthem stating it would “continue to enforce its rights under the merger agreement and remains committed to closing the transaction.”[25]
On March 7, 2018, it was announced that Cigna would acquire Express Scripts in a $67 billion deal[26][27] and on August 24, 2018, the shareholders of Cigna and Express Scripts approved the deal.[28]
In June 2020, Cigna formed a strategic alliance with Priority Health to make comprehensive health care coverage more affordable and accessible to Michigan employers and customers.[29]
In September 2020, Cigna rebranded its health services portfolio under the name Evernorth, which included Express Scripts, Accredo, and eviCore.[30]
In October 2020, it was announced that Cigna and Envision Healthcare had renewed their agreement to include Envision’s clinicians as in-network providers for Cigna’s members.[31] In 2021, Molina Healthcare acquired Cigna’s Medicaid contracts in Texas for US$60 million.[32]