Between layoffs, acquisitions, leadership changes and other moves, Cigna, the fourth-largest insurer in the U.S. by membership, has had an eventful year.
Here are five of the most significant updates from the insurance giant's last 12 months to know going into 2024:
1. Cigna Group reduced its workforce, according to posts by former employees on social media in October regarding layoffs they said are occurring across the company. Becker's has not confirmed an exact number of employees who may have been affected or when layoffs would be effective, and Cigna did not respond to questions about a reduction in force or if additional layoffs are planned.
2. Cigna Group was hit with lawsuits from members and a shareholder following a ProPublica report that alleges the company denies large batches of members' claims without individual review, thereby denying them coverage for certain services. Class-action complaints have been filed in California, Minnesota and Delaware.
3. The insurer was ordered to pay more than $172 million to settle claims that it submitted false diagnosis codes to Medicare Advantage from 2016 to 2021, and that it did not verify the accuracy of diagnosis codes reported by providers before submitting to CMS and reviewed charts to identify where it could receive additional payments from CMS, from 2014 to 2019. The company promised to enter a corporate integrity agreement for five years with HHS' Office of Inspector General.
4. The company removed prior authorization requirements from more than 600 medical codes — nearly 25% of services.
5. Cigna lowered reimbursements for non-medically directed procedures performed by certified registered nurse anesthetists by 15%.