Dive Brief:
- Cigna is rebranding its growing health services segment, including pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts, as Evernorth, the Connecticut-based payer announced Wednesday.
- The new umbrella brand will encompass Express Scripts, specialty pharmacy Accredo, medical benefit manager Evicore and Cigna's other health service product lines starting in the third quarter.
- The rebranding, which has been in the works for months pre-pandemic, is the next evolution of the Cigna-Express Scripts tie-up completed in late 2018, as the combined entity looks to spur more interest in its products from third parties in the industry.
Dive Insight:
Healthcare companies are increasingly diversifying to ensure more stable revenue streams. With the rebranding, Cigna is banking on positioning its disparate health services as a one-stop shop to drive business.
The payer has a significant footprint to capitalize on, with more than 185 million global customer relationships. Cigna is the third-largest commercial health insurer in the U.S. with annual revenue of $153.6 billion in 2019, just trailing CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group.
Evernorth will peddle health services geared toward other payers, employers and government businesses, including those without Cigna medical insurance.
Cigna will continue to go to market with all brands currently within its health services segment. However, several existing and new products will be branded Evernorth at launch, including Healthy Ways to Work, a return-to-work program for health plans and employers; fertility program FamilyPath; Embarc Benefit Protection, with connects patients with gene therapies; and mental health platform inMynd.
Embarc and inMynd are existing products, while Cigna began quietly offering Healthy Ways to Work to clients earlier in the pandemic and FamilyPath is new. More products are expected in the coming months.
Many other health services companies' business is primarily focused on its parent company. Evernorth, however, gets only about 10% of its business from Cigna, and the remaining 90% from external clients. The division hopes to build on existing partnerships, which include millennial-focused payer Oscar Health, PBM Prime Therapeutics and A.I.-enabled digital assistant Buoy Health.
The second quarter saw the third consecutive year of strong client retention in health services, Cigna CEO David Cordani touted during a call with investors in late July.
The extensive rebranding is the first project that's rolling out under Cigna's new Chief Marketing Officer Kristen Lauria, who joined about six months ago.
Tim Wentworth, current CEO of Express Scripts and Cigna's other health service lines, will stay on as top executive. The rebranding doesn't include any big, immediate internal changes or reorganizing.
Like other major U.S. payers, Cigna reported a huge jump in its second quarter profit as patients deferred non-emergent healthcare amid the pandemic. Cigna saw net income of $1.75 billion, up almost a fourth compared to the same time last year.
The health services segment reported more modest earnings growth, up 7% year over year, driven by organic growth, higher script volumes, favorable impacts from supply chain initiatives and strong specialty performance in Accredo.