Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna was formed through the combination of INA Corporation and Connecticut General Corporation in 1982. The company has since evolved into one of the "big five" health insurers in the U.S.
Here are 25 things to know about Cigna.
The basics
1. Cigna provides medical insurance to customers in 30 countries and jurisdictions, with more than 86 million customer relationships worldwide. Cigna offers international private medical insurance, including cancer, maternity and psychiatric care, through the Cigna Global Health Options program.
2. In 2014, Cigna reported $35 billion in revenues, $2 billion in adjusted income from operations, assets of $55.9 billion and $10.8 billion in shareholders' equity.
3. Cigna's global network includes more than 1 million partnerships with healthcare professionals, clinics and facilities including:
- 89,000 participating behavioral healthcare professionals and 11,400 facilities and clinics
- 74,000 contracted pharmacies 69,700 vision healthcare providers in more than 24,800 locations
- 134,000 dental PPO professionals and 20,000 dental HMO professionals
4. Although the vast majority of Cigna's business is commercial, it offers a Medicare/Medicaid line of business through Cigna HealthSpring. About 85 percent of Cigna's commercial business is with employers that self-insure and about 15 percent is fully insured, where Cigna assumes the risk.
5. Cigna has 459,000 Medicare Advantage customers, 59,000 Medicaid customers, 1.2 million Medicare prescription drug customers and processed 158 million medical claims overall in 2014.
6. States with the largest number of Cigna medical customers are Texas, California, Florida, Tennessee and New York.
7. The health insurer has approximately 37,000 employees.
8. Major Cigna players include:
- David Cordani, president and CEO, who, outside of Cigna, has competed in more than 125 triathlons.
- Thomas A. McCarthy, executive vice president and CFO, who has more than 31 years' experience in healthcare and insurance services.
- Alan Muney, MD, CMO of Cigna since 2011, who has more than 26 years experience leading health plan operations and in medical group practice management.
- Mark Boxer, executive vice president and global CIO of Cigna since 2011, who is responsible for driving the company's worldwide technology strategy.
- Lisa Bacus, executive vice president and global chief marketing officer since 2013, has won numerous marketing awards for various business and marketing efforts.
Merger talks
9. Cigna is counted among the 'Big 5' for-profit health insurers, along with UnitedHealth Group, Anthem, Humana and Aetna, who collectively insure more than half of the insured population, or more than 100 million people.
10. Cigna is among the major payers involved in merger talks in the health insurance sector. Within the last two weeks, Anthem made two takeover bids for Cigna — the most recent of which at about $175 per share — and Cigna rejected both. Humana has also entered into takeover talks with both Cigna and Aetna.
11. Shares of Cigna jumped nearly 12 percent June 15 after it was reported that Anthem made those two takeover bids, according to a Hartford Courant report. Cigna shares jumped more than 3 percent in late May when the company is said to have approached competitor Humana regarding a potential buyout, sources told Bloomberg.
Finances and customers
12. Cigna reported net income of $533 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2015, up from net income of $528 million on $8.5 billion in revenue a year earlier.
13. Cigna reported consolidated revenues of nearly $9.5 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2015, up about 11 percent from a year earlier.
14. The company's premiums and fees for the first quarter of 2015 were up 12 percent from a year earlier, largely driven by customer growth in Cigna's commercial and government businesses.
15. Cigna's total medical customers grew to 14.7 million in the first quarter of 2015, compared with 14.2 million a year earlier.
16. Based on its first-quarter financials, Cigna expects full-year adjusted income from operations in the range of $8.15 to $8.50 per share, up from its previous forecast of $8 to $8.40 per share.
Collaborative care agreements
17. In July 2014, Cigna achieved its goal of creating 100 collaborative care arrangements. At that time, the company's collaborative care arrangements spanned nearly 30 states and included more than 19,000 primary care physicians and more than 20,000 specialists. Currently, Cigna has 114 Collaborative Accountable Care arrangements in 28 states, covering 1.2 million customers.
18. Cigna Collaborative Care, a value-based initiative similar to an accountable care organization, has shown successful quality outcomes and reduced costs in OB/GYN practices in Florida and Texas. Cigna plans to launch up to six additional OB/GYN collaborative care pilots this year.
Rankings, legal battles and acquisitions
19. In the 2015 edition of athenahealth's PayerView report, Cigna ranked third overall among commercial and major payers. Payers were ranked based on metrics such as days in accounts receivable, claim resolution rate, denial rate and more.
20. In the 2015 ReviveHealth National Payor Survey, published by athenahealth, Cigna was rated the No. 1 plan in overall member satisfaction for the Southwest region of the United States, according to the annual J.D. Power Member Health Plan Study. The study, which is in its ninth year, measures satisfaction among members of 134 health plans in 18 regions across the U.S. The study examines six factors: coverage and benefits, provider choice, information and communication, claims processing, cost, and customer service. Member satisfaction is calculated on a 1,000-point scale.
21. Cigna was ranked No. 90 on Fortune's list of 500 companies that generated the most revenue for their respective fiscal years. It rank lower than the other four 'Big 5' health insurance companies.
22. In Revive Health's ninth annual National Payor Survey, Cigna was considered the most trustworthy payer for the second year in a row. Revive Health's findings were based on responses from more than 200 hospital and health system leaders about their feelings toward several health insurers.
23. This year has not been free from controversy for Cigna. Earlier this month, East Texas Medical Center Tyler filed a lawsuit in excess of $1 million against three of the largest health insurance companies in the state — Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Aetna and Cigna — claiming exclusion from their preferred provider networks has created "serious and negative consumer impact."
24. Cigna is among payers that joined the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network, an advisory group established to provide a forum for public-private partnerships to help the U.S. healthcare payment system meet or exceed recently established Medicare goals for value-based payments and alternative payment models.
25. Cigna is no stranger to acquisitions. In January 2012, Cigna achieved a major acquisition with its purchase of HealthSpring, one of the largest Medicare Advantage plans in the country, for $3.8 billion. Other recent acquisitions include:
- In March of 2015, Cigna completed its acquisition of Piscataway, N.J.-based QualCare Alliance Networks, a group that serves approximately 200,000 customers in self-funded health plans and has more than 900,000 customer relationships.
- In 2013, Cigna completed its acquisition of Alegis Care, a portfolio company of Triton Pacific Capital Partners. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- In 2012, Cigna acquired a 51 percent share in Finans Emeklilik, the sixth-largest life and pension provider in Turkey.
- In 2012, Cigna acquired Great American Supplemental Benefits, which offers supplemental insurance products for Medicare providers, for $326 million.
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