Who Owns Cigna Healthcare?

Cigna Healthcare and The Cigna Group have received recognition from several independent organizations. The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has accredited multiple Cigna Healthcare commercial health plans, a standard for health plan quality measurement in the United States.

The Cigna Group has been included on the Ethisphere Institute's list of the World's Most Ethical Companies multiple times, most recently in 2025. This recognition evaluates corporate ethics and compliance programs. The company has also appeared on Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies list in the healthcare sector.

For workplace culture, The Cigna Group has received recognition from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index, scoring 100% in recent years for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion. The company has also been recognized by Forbes as one of America's Best Employers for Diversity.

Cigna Healthcare's Medicare Advantage plans previously received 4-star ratings from CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), though these plans were sold to HCSC in March 2025. The brand's commercial plans continue to receive NCQA accreditation, which is the primary independent quality benchmark for health insurance products.

Cigna Healthcare has faced several regulatory and legal challenges. In 2023, a class-action lawsuit alleged that Cigna used an automated claims review system called PXDX to deny thousands of claims without individual physician review. The lawsuit, filed in California federal court, claimed the system rejected claims in an average of 1.2 seconds each. Cigna stated that PXDX was used to deny claims that did not meet clinical criteria and that physicians reviewed denial decisions. The case is ongoing as of 2025.

In 2024, Cigna Healthcare faced regulatory scrutiny over mental health and substance use disorder treatment denials. Several states investigated whether the company violated mental health parity laws, which require insurers to cover mental health treatment at the same level as physical health treatment. The company settled with some state regulators and agreed to improve claims processing for behavioral health services.

Data privacy has also been an issue. In 2023, Cigna disclosed a data breach affecting approximately 1.5 million customers, caused by a vulnerability in a third-party vendor's systems. The company offered affected customers free credit monitoring and identity theft protection. Regulatory investigations followed, and the company implemented additional vendor security requirements.

Following the Express Scripts acquisition, Cigna Healthcare has faced criticism regarding pharmacy benefit management practices. The Federal Trade Commission has conducted ongoing investigations into the business practices of major pharmacy benefit managers, including Express Scripts, focusing on drug pricing, formulary design, and pharmacy network arrangements. The FTC published an interim staff report in 2024 criticizing PBM practices. The Cigna Group has stated that its pharmacy benefit services reduce drug costs for clients and members.