The Cigna Group is ramping up investments and a companywide focus into better ways to manage the most complex and specialized care of patients enrolled in its health plans and its network of healthcare services, the company said Wednesday, September 30, 2026. In this photo is The Cigna Group headquarters in Bloomfield, Connecticut, US, on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. Photographer: Joe Buglewicz/Bloomberg
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The Cigna Group is ramping up investments and a companywide focus into better ways to manage the most complex and specialized care of patients enrolled in its health plans and its network of healthcare services.
The company, which owns the health insurer Cigna Healthcare and the Evernorth health services business that includes the Express Scripts pharmacy benefit manager, Wednesday announced several initiatives to improve how patients access and experience specialty care.
“The capabilities that make us a leader in complex care are also being applied to improve how health care is experienced across the broader population,” The Cigna Group chief executive officer Brian Evanko said in a statement ahead of the company’s investor meeting Wednesday. “By bringing together data, clinical expertise and AI through our health intelligence engine, we can identify needs earlier, personalize support and help lower the total cost of care.”
Cigna executives said the company’s Evernorth specialty and care services support more than one million patients with complex conditions and delivers more than 8 million prescriptions annually.
Already, the company earlier this year unveiled its $100 million artificial intelligence-powered “Pharmacy Forward” program to help address the soaring costs of specialty medications, which now comprise more than half of all prescription spending at health insurance companies. The program, starting with Cigna’s Accredo Specialty Pharmacy, leverages AI, data and clinical expertise to offer personalized proactive patient support.
Today, specialty drugs account for well more than half of the total prescription spending any health plan, employer or government health program manages. And employer clients tell benefits consultants specialty costs easily account for 60% or more of their total drug spending, particularly as more Americans flock to anti-obesity GLP-1 medicines, prescriptions hailed for their ability to help people lose weight.
Cigna, which already has more than 30 specialty care delivery sites, said the company plans to open an undisclosed number of new ones and expand existing ones. In addition, Cigna plans to open a fifth “clean room,” which is a highly sterile facility where companies compound some of the most complex therapies.
Cigna wouldn’t disclose how much it is spending on the clean room but industry analysts say such an investment will cost millions of dollars and allow the company to negotiate better deals with drug makers who make the medications. Such facilities take years to build, license and operationalize, industry analysts say.
“As we continue to scale these capabilities, we will create value for customers, clients and shareholders alike through better outcomes, lower costs and a more connected health care experience,” Evanko said.
The focus on specialty pharmacy and complex medical care was part of investor day presentations that included plans to improve “affordability and personalization across the health care continuum,” the company said.
“We are proud to announce ‘Lead to One,’ our vision for the future of healthcare through personalization at scale,” Evanko said. “This unifies direction for our enterprise and positions The Cigna Group for continued success as we work to improve the health of the diverse range of customers we serve.”
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