Dive Brief:
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Cigna CEO David Cordani suggests the individual health insurance market under the Affordable Care Act would be improved if it would allow insurers further flexibility in how they design coverage, as well as if it operated with a shorter enrollment period.
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In his interview with Kaiser Health News, Cordani also reiterated the company is committed to the marketplace for 2016 even though it is so far experiencing losses from its business there.
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While Cigna is currently a small player with 230,000 individual customers in the marketplace in 2015, its role could grow if the deal goes through for it to join buyer Anthem, which has taken a larger role.
Dive Insight:
With insurers reporting major losses in the ACA's individual insurance market and voicing possible reluctance to continue past 2016, the pressure is on for improved market performance.
UnitedHealth stated in November it might not continue participation in 2017, and for Cigna's part, Cordani states, "We haven’t made a comment relative to 2017. We view 2014, 2015, and 2016 as 'Version 1.0.'" From the start, he told KHN, Cigna expected the marketplace to take its first three years to "shake itself out," and didn't expect to make money at the outset.
"Societally, we are just starting to understand how the market is operating," he said. Cordani compares it to the Medicare Advantage market and suggests taking a cue from its shorter enrollment period with limited exceptions, as well as allowing more flexibility in how provider networks are designed.