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This follows the company’s recent earnings call, where executives discussed the organization’s growth and future plans, highlighting its focus on serving the best interests of their consumers.

Cigna Reveals Multi-Year Plan to Simplify Healthcare, Boost Transparency and Improve Patient Support

Potential threats to HIV care and fallout over the next four years, according to Jose Abrigo, Esq., HIV project director at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute.

The HIV Epidemic in Trump’s America

Much of the association between trauma and suicide risk among university students can be explained by shame, a new study finds.

PTSD Raises the Risk of Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Risk: What’s Shame Got To Do With It?

Here’s what you missed this week on Managed Healthcare Executive.

MHE Week in Review – RFK Jr. Spotlight

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The No Surprises Act is scheduled to go into effect in January. The law will require providers to provide patients with details of the new balance billing requirements, any state-level limitations or prohibitions in the state of service, and the dispute resolution process.

Key Takeaways for Managed Care Organizations as No Surprises Act Goes Into Effect

The Cigna Group released their revenue report for 2024 which showcased their 27% revenue jump to $247.1 billion — with Evernorth much to credit.

Evernorth, which includes pharmacy benefit services such as Express Scripts, contributed to the increase that clocked in at $195.3 billion in 2023.

David M. Cordani, chairman and CEO of The Cigna Group, highlighted Evernorth’s contributions during a conference call discussing the results.

“Evernorth continues to drive strong results in line with our expectations, primarily driven by our specialty and care services segment,” Cordani said.

The numbers highlight this statement, with pharmacy benefit services reaching $111.8 billion in adjusted revenue, a 46% jump from $76.8 billion in 2023.

Cigna's 27% Revenue Increase in 2024 and the Outlook on 2025

In addition, specialty and care services recorded $90.3 billion in adjusted revenue, marking an 18% increase from the previous year.

Evernorth's growth pattern has remained consistent, establishing itself as the backbone of Cigna’s financial performance.

As Cordani noted, Evernorth's leadership in biosimilars plays a crucial role in addressing major healthcare challenges.

For instance, the company introduced the Humira interchangeable biosimilar last summer, offering eligible patients access at $0 cost. 

By the end of 2024, nearly 50% of eligible Humira prescriptions were filled with biosimilars, and Evernorth is now extending this benefit to the interchangeable Stelera biosimilar.

Over the next five years, Cordani said approximately $100 billion in specialty drug spend in the U.S. will be subject to biosimilar and generic competition, positioning Evernorth to lead the way in delivering significant savings.

He also emphasized the growing need for affordable prescription drugs, especially with the rising use of GLP-1 medications, which have become a major driver of drug spending trends.

While these medications are relatively inexpensive to produce, U.S. patients are paying several times more than those in other countries, even with full pass-through rebates.

By advancing biosimilars and working to reduce drug costs, Evernorth remains committed to ensuring that patients can access medications at fair prices while maintaining long-term sustainability in the healthcare system.

Eric Palmer, president and CEO of Evernorth Health Services, highlighted in a 

, the organization's continued innovation in response to market demands.

"We know that healthcare and prescription drugs need to be more affordable, and coverage needs to be more transparent and less complex," he said.

To further enhance affordability, Evernorth has recently introduced several initiatives focused on cost transparency and patient protections.

These protections ensure that patients benefit directly from the savings Express Scripts negotiates.

For example, patients will no longer pay the high list prices for medications, and those in high-deductible plans will receive the lower prices negotiated by Express Scripts, even during the deductible phase when costs can be highest.

Beyond price protections, Evernorth is increasing transparency by offering personalized reports to patients, detailing their prescription drug costs, negotiated savings and plan-paid amounts.

Plan sponsors will also receive detailed, annual reports that provide greater visibility into pharmacy claims and costs than what is typically offered.

These efforts are part of Evernorth's larger strategy to make healthcare more affordable and transparent for all involved.

Adam Kautzner, president of Evernorth Care Management and Express Scripts, stressed that these initiatives are designed to ensure there are no surprises at the pharmacy counter.

A key factor in Evernorth’s innovation is the data-driven EncircleRx program, which expanded to cover about 8 million lives in 2024, Cordani added.

The program helps plan sponsors reduce costs and improve outcomes, with its Cardiodiabesity solution offering predictability in managing obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

It also provides lifestyle support and tools to help patients on GLP-1 medications sustain long-term improvements.

Cordani expressed the importance of these solutions, especially given the rising costs of GLP-1 medications in the U.S.

"Despite these medications being relatively cheap to produce, Americans are paying prices that are multiples higher compared to other countries," he said. "This is not acceptable, nor sustainable."

Formulary Watch

Clinical

Evernorth Drives Cigna's Strong Revenue Growth and Focuses on Biosimilars and Drug Affordability

The Cigna Group reported today its total revenue of $247.1 billion for 2024, marking a 27% increase compared with $195.3 billion in 2023.

This growth highlights the company’s strong financial results, supported by the success of Evernorth Health Services, new client acquisitions and growth in the specialty drug space.

According to a release shared this morning, a key driver to Cigna's growth was the strong performance of Evernorth within the pharmacy benefit and specialty and care services divisions.

Pharmacy benefit services reached an adjusted revenue of $111.8 billion in 2024, a 46% jump from $76.8 billion in 2023. Specialty and care services recorded $90.3 billion in adjusted revenue, marking an 18% increase from $76.7 billion in 2023.

These gains helped balance out some of the challenges Cigna faced, including higher stop-loss medical costs.

David M. Cordani, chairman and CEO of The Cigna Group, said on a conference call reviewing 2024’s results, “Evernorth continues to drive strong results in line with our expectations, primarily driven by our specialty and care services segment.”

Cordani also highlighted the company’s efforts to offer their interchangeable Humira (adalimumab) biosimilar at no cost to patients, a factor that contributed to this strong performance.

He added that the biosimilar use for eligible Humira prescriptions reached nearly 50% by the end of 2024, and the company plans to offer the same benefit for the Stelara (ustekinumab) biosimilar.

However, the rise in stop-loss medical costs negatively impacted Cigna’s fourth-quarter earnings and overall annual results.

To address these challenges, Cordani stressed Cigna’s efforts to building a sustainable healthcare model focused on improving transparency, support and value for patients and clients.

The company’s medical care ratio, which increased from 81.3% to 83.2%, primarily due to the rise in stop-loss medical costs.

It was also found that shareholders’ net income for 2024 stood at $3.4 billion, or $12.12 per share, reflecting a decrease from $5.2 billion, or $17.39 per share, in 2023.

The decline was mainly due to a non-cash after-tax investment loss of $2.7 billion related to the impairment of VillageMD equity securities.

Either way, adjusted income from operations for 2024 rose by 4% to $7.7 billion, or $27.33 per share, compared to $7.4 billion, or $25.09 per share, in 2023.

Cigna also made improvements in operational efficiency in 2024.

The adjusted SG&A expense ratio dropped to 5.9% for the year from 7.3% in 2023, due to business mix shifts, strong revenue growth and ongoing operational improvements.

The company returned value to shareholders by repurchasing 20.9 million shares of common stock for approximately $7. billion in 2024.

Additionally, the board of directors approved a $6 billion increase in the share repurchase authorization, bringing the total authorization to $10.3 billion as of December 31, 2024.

Looking ahead to 2025, Cigna is projecting adjusted income from operations to be at least $7.9 billion, or $29.50 per share, with total adjusted revenue expected to reach at least $252 billion.

Evernorth is expected to deliver adjusted income from operations of at least $7.2 billion, while Cigna is projected to contribute at least $4.1 billion, with a medical care ratio ranging from 83.2% to 84.2%.

The company also predicts a total medical customer base of 18.1 million.

Lastly, the acquisition of Cigna’s Medicare businesses by Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025.

The Cigna Group reported today their total revenue of $247.1 billion for 2024, compared with $195.3 billion in 2023. This growth highlights the company’s strong financial results, supported by the success of Evernorth Health Services, new client acquisitions and growth in the specialty drug space.


 The impact of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) differs widely between genders, several studies show.

In the most recent research, published online in 

 last month, found that disease activity, physical disability, functional limitation, depression and anxiety scores were higher among women with PsA than amone men with the disease. The researchers reported that quality of life and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores were higher in male patients.

The study of more than 1,000 patients with PsA at 25 centers in Turkey zeroed in on patients with “axial” PsA, a recognized categorization of PsA that means the disease affects the spine, hips and shoulders in contrast to the “peripheral” PsA, which affects the arms and legs).

Pain score, fatigue, quality of life, anxiety, depression, and other scores were significantly worse in females than males with axial PsA. However, quality of life was better and PASI scores were worse in men than in women, the research team led by Kemal Nas of Sakarya University.

“This study has shown that the burden of disease in axial PsA has significant difference between genders. Therefore, we suggest that new strategies should be developed for more effective treatment of axial PsA in female patients,” wrote Nas and his colleagues.

Nas was the lead author of a previous study exploring gender differences among people with PsA that was also published in 

. That 2017 study found that women with PsA had higher symptom duration and body-mass indexes than men with the disease.

“Men with PsA are more likely to have higher PASI scores and longer duration to develop arthritis after the onset of psoriasis, while women are more likely to have higher disease activity and report more fatigue and physical activity limitations,” says the abstract.

Not all of Nas’ findings have pointed to differences between the sexes. In the 2017 study, for example, Nas and his colleagues found that that quality of life, extra-articular features (including uveitis and iritis), family history of PsA and the rates of spondyloarthritis and ankylosing spondylitis were very similar among both men and women.

Research documents that the disease affects men and women differently.

The Difference Gender Makes in Psoriatic Arthritis

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a respiratory virus that may not be on most folk’s radars, but it’s more common than you think — and chances are, you’ve already had it.

A recent “outbreak” in northern China has brought HMPV into the spotlight, raising questions about its significance.

First discovered in the Netherlands roughly 24 years ago, HMPV belongs to the same viral family as RSV. 

Scott Palmer

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