Cigna Corp. CEO David Cordani said 2012 would be a year of expansion and innovation for his Bloomfield-based health insurer and his company certainly didn’t shy away from either goal.
Cigna spent billions of dollars in new acquisitions in 2012, expanding its footprint overseas and in lucrative markets like Medicare Advantage plans and supplemental insurance.
Deals included completion of a $3.8 billion buyout of Nashville’s Health Spring Inc., which sells Medicare Advantage plans, or privately run versions of the government’s Medicare program. Cigna expanded its foothold in that market by also buying the Medicare Advantage plans in Texas and Arkansas from health insurer Humana Inc.
Meanwhile, Cigna spent about $300 million to buy Texas supplemental health insurer Great American Supplemental Benefits Group.
On the international front, the Bloomfield company grew its presence across the globe including new ventures in the Middle East. Cigna celebrated the sale of its one millionth insurance policy in China and also took a major step toward offering its insurance products to Turkish consumers by finalizing its $103 million purchase of a majority stake in Finans Emeklilik, Turkey’s sixth largest life and pension provider.
Besides acquisitions, Cordani led Cigna through a major new technology roll out. The company unveiled its new web-based service on myCigna.com that allows its members to assess medical costs according to the real-time status of their health plan deductibles and co-insurance, as well as their available health spending account funds.
It also provides access to exact prices, which are based on actual claim payments, for more than 200 common medical procedures.
On the provider front, Cigna maintained its position as a leader in growing accountable care organizations around the country. It now has 42 collaborative accountable care programs in 18 states covering more than 390,000 customers, and is on track to reach its goal of 100 initiatives for one million customers by the end of 2014.