Cigna leadership changes expand top executives' roles

Photo: Martin Barraud/Getty Images

Health insurer Cigna is shaking up its leadership structure by expanding the roles of its top executives, saying the move was designed to continue accelerating growth across Cigna Healthcare and subsidiary Evernorth Health Services.

Brian Evanko will continue to serve as chief financial officer for the Cigna Group and assume the new role of president and chief executive officer for Cigna Healthcare. He will oversee all Cigna Healthcare businesses, including U.S. Commercial, International Health and U.S. Government.

Evanko joined Cigna in 1998 and has held several business and financial leadership roles over the course of his tenure, including oversight of the U.S. Government business. During his time as CFO, the company has delivered against its earnings objectives, said Cigna.

At the same time, Ann Dennison will join the Cigna Group as deputy chief financial officer. Previously, she was an executive vice president and the CFO at Nasdaq, where she led a global team responsible for corporate finance, treasury, planning and analysis, investor relations, ESG reporting, procurement, and real estate.

Dennison joined Nasdaq in 2015 as senior vice president, controller and chief accounting officer. Prior to that, she was a managing director and head of financial reporting at Goldman Sachs. Dennison holds a BBA/MBA in accounting and finance from Pace University's Lubin School of Business.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT?

Those aren't the only leadership changes taking place at Cigna, as current U.S. Commercial president Mike Triplett will retire by the end of the year. During his tenure, he has overseen growth for the commercial business and drove Cigna Healthcare's work with network hospitals, facilities and clinicians to improve affordability and enhance quality. 

As part of the transition plan, he will assume the role of special advisor to the CEO, where he will focus on solutions for key distribution channels.

Bryan Holgerson will be promoted to serve as president of U.S. Commercial for Cigna Healthcare. During his more than 22 years with the company, Holgerson has shaped and executed business growth strategies across a diverse portfolio, said Cigna. Prior to his current role leading U.S. Commercial National Accounts and the Underwriting team, Holgerson served as a market president and held key leadership positions in National Accounts, among other senior roles.

Dennison and Holgerson will report to Evanko.

Finally, Eric Palmer will expand his role to assume oversight of the Cigna Group Enterprise Strategy and Corporate Development, in addition to continuing to serve as president and CEO of Evernorth Health Services. He will be responsible for mapping long-term growth strategies, further growing the enterprise's health services businesses through M&A activity and fueling innovation through Cigna Ventures.

Over the course of his 26-year career with Cigna, Palmer has held many business and financial leadership positions, including serving as CFO from 2017 through 2020.

THE LARGER TREND

In December, Cigna and Humana called off merger talks after reportedly failing to agree on a price.

Cigna is continuing to explore the sale of its Medicare Advantage business. The company is in exclusive talks to sell its MA business to Health Care Service Corp in a deal that valued between $3 and $4 billion, Reuters reported earlier this month.

Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.