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Cigna

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CIGNA, Inc.
Company typePublic
NYSE: CI
S&P 500 Component
IndustryManaged health care
FoundedCG and INA merger in 1982
Headquarters900 Cottage Grove Road
Bloomfield, Connecticut, U.S.
Key people
David Cordani, Chairman and CEO
H. Edward Hanway
ProductsHealth plans, Group Disability, Life and Accident Insurance, and Disability and Workers' Compensation Case Management
RevenueIncrease$18.4 billion USD (2009)
Increase$1.3 billion USD (2009)
Number of employees
29,300 (2009)
Websitewww.Cigna.com

CIGNA Inc. (pronounced sig-nuh), headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut, is a global health care management company, owing to its expanding international footprint and the fact that it provides administrative services only (not insurance) to approximately 80 percent of its clients. CIGNA also has a major footprint in the Phoenix, Arizona metro area running a full-service staff-model HMO with satellite clinics throughout the region.[1]

CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits also operates under CIGNA corporation and provides benefits to customers around the world.

According to its most recent investor report[2] from 2009, CIGNA has approximately 29,300 employees.

History

CIGNA was formed by the 1982 merger of the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company (CG) and the Insurance Company of North America (INA), the first stock insurance company in America.[3] . INA was formed back in 1792 and is considered to be the ancestor of Cigna. The CG was created in 1865 by a special act of the Governor of Connecticut.

Before selling its international property and casualty business to the Bermuda-based ACE Insurance company in the late 1990s, CIGNA was among the companies with the largest international network in the league of Allianz, AIG and Zurich. The deal was made for strategic reasons 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 on expanding the international network in the traditional insurance market.[4]

CIGNA sold the majority of its life insurance operations to Lincoln National Corporation in 1997.[5]

CIGNA now operates in 25 countries, has in excess of 42,000 employees and manages around US$110 billion in assets.

In October 2011, CIGNA has 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. The payment would come from issue new equity to cover about 20 percent of the value, with the rest funded by additional cash and debt.[6]

Cigna International Expatriate Benefits

CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryEmployee Benefits
Founded1977
HeadquartersWilmington, DE, USA
Key people
Andrew Kielty, President, CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits
ProductsMedical, Dental, Disibility, Life Insurance
Revenue174,078,000,000 United States dollar (2021) Edit this on Wikidata
ParentCIGNA Corporation
Websitewww.cignaexpats.com

CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits is a business unit within CIGNA. CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, in close proximity to Philadelphia, PA. Additional CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits operations are located in Visalia, CA, and Greenock, Scotland and Shanghai, China. Sales offices are located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Products and services

CIEB global health plans typically include medical, dental, behavioral and disability, as well as business travel and life components. Plans are tailored to meet the needs of the expatriates. They are defined as employees of multinational companies working outside their home country on short, and long-term international assignments.[7] CIEB maintains its own, in-house international claims platform, and offers an extensive network of physician and hospitals for its members (including 550,000 in the U.S. and more than 141,000 outside the U.S.).

Quality of care

In California's Office of the Patient Advocate 2011 Health Care Quality Report Card, CIGNA scored 3 out of 4 stars in Meeting National Standards of Care and 3 out of 4 stars in How Members Rate Their HMO.[8]

In U.S. News and World Report's 2007 annual ranking of US commercial health plans, CIGNA's highest and lowest rankings are as follows, out of 250 rated plans:[9]

Ethics

See also: Nataline Sarkisyan

In December 2007, CIGNA was criticized after the company refused to pay for a liver transplant of a California teenage girl, Nataline Sarkisyan, justifying their refusal to pay by claiming that the procedure was experimental, even though there was a liver ready and waiting to be transplanted and doctors estimated she had a 65% chance of surviving at least six months.[10] In response to much protest and public scrutiny, CIGNA reversed its decision, though Ms. Sarkisyan died awaiting the transplant.[11] CIGNA notes that it had no financial stake in the decision to authorize the transplant because it merely administers the insurance plan of Mr. Sarkisyan's employer and would not bear the cost of any operation. However, CIGNA offered to pay for the transplant itself when it made the exception to the policy.[12]

Even though liver transplants have been performed since 1963 and are a well accepted treatment option for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure, CIGNA defended its actions by claiming that there was insufficient data to show that a transplant for a patient in Sarkisyan's condition would be safe and effective.[12] Lawyers for her family are exploring litigation against Cigna.

The California court agreed with CIGNA's position that the Sarkisyans' claims regarding CIGNA's decision-making were preempted by federal ERISA law. On April 16, 2009, the United States District Court for the Central District of California dismissed all of the claims against CIGNA related to the coverage determination.[13]

Controversy

The UK newspaper Guardian in their "Esc and Ctrl" videoblog about control of Internet by corporations documented an incident of Nataline Sarkisyan and former vice president of CIGNA talked about astroturfing, the practice of creating fake blogs by interested groups e.g. health insurance companies to push claims that are profitable for said company into media, e.g. dismissing universal health care.[14]

Awards

CIGNA received gold in the 2009 Gartner & 1to1 Customer Experience Excellence Award. The awards are given to the companies that "most clearly demonstrate exemplary customer relationship strategy and an unrivaled level of excellence in delivering the customer experience".[15]

CIGNA also recently[when?] received the JD Power award for customer service for all of its call centers for the fourth time in a row. According to the company, JD power ensures "CIGNA HealthCare’s call center operations successfully passed a detailed audit of its recruiting, training, employee incentives, quality assurance capabilities, and management roles and responsibilities."[16]

File:Cigna logo.gif
The logo of CIGNA HealthCare, the health insurance company operating under CIGNA Corporation. CIGNA HealthCare delivers employee benefit plans across the United States.

Community and civic affairs and charitable giving

In 2008, the CIGNA Foundation contributed $2,533,535 to charitable activities that promote wellness.[17] Since 1995, CIGNA and its employees have contributed $22.3 million to the March of Dimes.[17]

In July 2010, CIGNA began giving each company employee eight hours of paid time off annually to volunteer with non-profit health and community service organizations.[18] The Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia helped kicked off the program in front of CIGNA's Philadelphia headquarters with the Christmas in July campaign.[19]

Lobbying

CIGNA spent more than $4.4 million from 2005 to 2009 on lobbying to attain legislation that the company favors. This includes $720,000 spent in 2009 alone, when it had 20 lobbyists at five different firms working on their behalf.[20]

Competitors

Strategic Alliances

On April 16, 2010, CIGNA announced an alliance with Humana group to offer a streamlined Medicare Advantage offering through employer clients for retirees.[21]

  • Silver silver planCigna (CIGNA and CMC) insurance on the insured in the Asia-Pacific countries and regions for the usual and customary level of medical costs of providing emergency, inpatient, fertility, medical and dental high-end medical insurance.
  • Gold gold planCigna (CIGNA and CMC) insurance on the insured in the global or non USA for general practice level of medical costs of providing emergency, inpatient, fertility, medical and dental high-end medical insurance.
  • Platinum platinum planCigna (CIGNA and CM) insurance on the insured in the global or non USA for general practice level of medical costs of providing emergency, inpatient, fertility, medical and dental high-end medical insurance.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Directions to CIGNA Corporate Offices." CIGNA. Retrieved on September 19, 2011.
  2. ^ http://www.cigna.com/about_us/investor_relations/release/4q09release.pdf
  3. ^ CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits
  4. ^ ACE TO BUY CIGNA UNIT FOR $3.45 BILLION IN CASH
  5. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/29/business/lincoln-national-set-to-acquire-bulk-of-a-cigna-business.html Lincoln National Set to Acquire Bulk of a Cigna Business]
  6. ^ "Cigna to buy Medicare co HealthSpring for $3.8 billion". October 24, 2011.
  7. ^ CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits
  8. ^ http://www.opa.ca.gov/about/consumer_information/files/pdf/OPA%20Booklet_2011.pdf
  9. ^ "Best Health Plans 2007". Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  10. ^ "Los Angeles Local News, US & World, Business, Entertainment, Green News | NBC Los Angeles". Knbc.com. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
  11. ^ "Health Insurer to Be Charged With Teen's Murder - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. 2007-12-21. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
  12. ^ a b Vanessa Fuhrmans & Laura Meckler "A Medical Case Becomes Political" The Wall Street Journal 2008-01-07 p. A1
  13. ^ Retrieved 2008-01-07.[dead link]
  14. ^ Esc and Ctrl: Jon Ronson investigates astroturfing - video,
  15. ^ Retrieved 2009-09-28.[dead link]
  16. ^ "CIGNA Newsroom | CIGNA HealthCare Recognized for Providing an Outstanding Customer Service Experience For a Fourth Consecutive Year". Newsroom.cigna.com. 2010-01-19. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
  17. ^ a b http://newsroom.cigna.com/images/56/2008givingreportfinal.pdf
  18. ^ "Cigna rings in new volunteerism program". 2010-07-19.
  19. ^ "The Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia: The Salvation Army Launches Christmas in July Campaign". Use.salvationarmy.org. 2010-06-29. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
  20. ^ "Center for Responsive Politics". Opensecrets.org. 2011-10-31. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
  21. ^ "CIGNA Newsroom | CIGNA and Humana Form Alliance on Retiree Solutions for Employers". Newsroom.cigna.com. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
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