Not content to just sell on other private exchanges or see clients flock to them, Cigna is launching its own online benefits marketplace for employers and their workers.
The company said the exchange, a proprietary online platform, is currently available to "smaller employers" in Atlanta, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, and will be expanded to other markets and large employers this year.
"Cigna's goal is to offer a full range of plan choices to employers, and employees and their families as they become more actively involved in their health and benefit choices," Dave Guilmette, president of Cigna's global employer segment, said in a media release.
Offering pharmacy, dental, vision, life and disability plans in addition to health insurance, Cigna said the exchange is trying to bring employees a user-friendly experience with a variety of choices and "benefit plan decision support tools" to navigate their options.
The company is promising employers that the exchange will help add some predictability to their healthcare budgeting through the defined contribution model, as well as simplified administrative responsibilities.
Brokers, who may feel they are fading into obsolescence, according to one recent survey, may also find something to like in Cigna's new exchange. The company said their work with existing clients may "benefit from this easy, turnkey private exchange solution."
The decision to launch its own exchange "extends Cigna's strategy to give our customers more options to select a plan that meets their needs, including fully integrated products and services," Guilmette, who before landing at Cigna in 2010 was a managing director at Towers Perrin, now Towers Watson, one of several consulting and professional services firms that have gotten into the private exchange business, along with Aon Hewitt.
Towers Watson recently spent $215 million acquiring the private exchange Liazon, which had seen significant growth since launching in 2007. Aon Hewitt counts large employers like Darden Restaurants and Walgreens among its customers.
Previewing the evolution of public exchanges, albeit with far less government involvement, large insurers have watched private exchanges disrupt traditional insurance sales models. Now, Cigna at least is trying to create a private online market unto its own.