Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) will duplicate Evernorth as part of its growth plan.
Evernorth is the health care services division of the Bloomfield, Connecticut-based insurer. Through Evernorth and its insurance plan business, Cigna is becoming increasingly relevant in the behavioral health space.
Cigna has more than double The Evernorth Behavioral Health Network: Part of a growing tendency of payers to prioritize such efforts.
Evernorth leads Cigna’s divisions financially. It made up 68% of Cigna’s pre-tax income and 79% of its revenue in the third quarter, according to financial data. filings.
Specifically, Cigna intends to deepen Evernorth’s digital capabilities. Evernorth’s services include benefit services, specialty care and pharmacy services, and point-of-care services.
Cigna itself has turned to behavioral health technology tools. In March, unfolded the Confide Behavioral Health Navigator tool to help members classify symptoms.
“We also continue to make significant strategic investments to maintain and create new sources of differentiation,” said Brian Evanko, Cigna’s chief financial officer, during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. “These include investments, which serve to deepen relationships with our clients and expand our portfolio of digital services and capabilities.”
More investment in Evernorth’s digital capabilities is in line with its recent actions. Evernorth has announced several partnerships with digital behavioral health providers this year.
To name a few, it partnered with virtual opioid use disorder treatment provider Bicycle Health in August. He was also associated with come out genius Y Soul.
Outside of Evernorth, Cigna has partnered with the Behavioral Health Center of Excellence. The association is set standards for results and best practices for autism therapies.
Going forward, Cigna will invest more in virtual primary care for chronic conditions, company leadership suggested. Specific capabilities focus on maintaining close contact with members. CEO David Cordani named ongoing engagement, remote monitoring and connected devices as some of the areas he will invest in.
The technological and digital approach would allow “real-time interventions between appointments,” Cordani said. Cigna has already paid $2 billion to acquire the 24/7 telehealth platform MDLIVE, which provides urgent care, primary care, mental health care and dermatology.
At Cigna, behavioral health care is the fastest growing segment of its customer relationships.
In the third quarter, it had 44.5 million relationships with behavioral care clients. That represented 23% of Cigna’s total 192.4 million customer relationships. Behavioral customer relationships increased 12% year over year, according to SEC filings.
Pharmacy customer relationships accounted for the largest share: 108.7 million, or 56%. This segment grew 5% year over year.
Payer interest in behavioral health is deepening. The coronavirus triggered the demand for services. It also solidified the importance of taking behavioral health seriously as part of whole person care. This is leading payers further consolidation in the space. This includes as an owner of behavioral health practices such as Optum and AbleTo Y Refresh mental health.
Cigna beat estimates earnings and revenue, according to Zacks Equity Research. For the quarter, it generated adjusted earnings per share of $6.04 and revenue of $45.4 billion.
