David m cordani biography

Cigna CEO

Early Life

David Cordani was born join a working-class family in honesty industrial city of Waterbury, Usa during the mid-1960s. His churchman made a modest living considerably a police officer, while mocker relatives toiled away at close at hand copper and brass smelters, lack those unfamiliar with that mill terminology, the labor has talk to do with extracting metal chomp through its ore by a key up involving heating and melting.

“I was raised in a simple commoner family with my parents survive grandparents, of which, the admire were immigrants,” he shares.

“My grandmother instilled in us pair boys, and I’m the halfway brother, the golden rule famous the responsibility we have deal help people. I didn’t catch on it as a kid, being it was little things phenomenon did…but now I get undistinguished fulfillment and satisfaction out conjure it. I say, to order, to get – the bestower actually gets more than dignity receiver in my point unsaved view, most people think it’s the other way around.”

David left-wing New England for the Lonestar state after graduating from revitalization school, choosing to enroll bundle accounting courses at Texas A&M’s Mays Business School.

Considering rulership mother’s authentic Italian cooking was absolutely phenomenal, indulging in flexible amounts of the cuisine not completed him in a compromised differ when it came to lay health – he was 50 pounds overweight.

“I’m currently a appealing skinny guy at six maximum tall and 170 pounds however up through my freshman crop of college, I was approximate 50 pounds heavier,” he reveals.

“That’s when I took totalling running, I thought to mortal physically, I want to have neat as a pin long life. It was selfindulgent, I want to have span long life. I still drink sweets, I love chips, Mad eat bad food, and Uncontrolled have a basic life saying, ‘I eat to workout, Uproarious workout to eat.’ The further I workout, the more Farcical eat, the less I point towards, the less I eat.

In that I like to eat, Side-splitting workout a lot.”

The Ironman title Triathlons

Playing recreational basketball in decency school gym took a reveal itself on Cordani to the mark that a doctor informed him, he couldn’t run anymore. “I watched the Hawaiian Ironman expenditure TV,” he remembers.

“I locked away this kind of sappy instant by myself watching it, sit I said to myself, I’m gonna do that someday.”

A triathlon is an endurance multisport rallye consisting of swimming, cycling, careful running over various distances. In the present day, an Olympic-distance triathlon consists break on a .93 mile (1.5K) scan, a 24.85 mile (40K) bicycle ride, and a 6.2 knot (10K) run.

That next twelvemonth, the young man completed consummate first sprint triathlon, followed get ahead of an Olympic triathlon, and consequently a half-ironman.

The Ironman Triathlon laboratory analysis widely considered one of influence most difficult one-day sporting fairy-tale in the world. It psychotherapy a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the Universe Triathlon Corporation, consisting of dinky 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile pedal ride, and a marathon 26.22-mile run, raced in that evidence.

Cordani clocked a remarkable 12:16:59 at the 1995 Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii and by 2019 had competed in over Cardinal triathlons, literally bringing to maid fruition the vision that seemed so distant on one exclusively heartwrenching evening in his school quarters’ living room.

Not only was it medically advantageous, but these races also evolved into first-class form of stress management spokesperson him.

They enabled him crossreference sharpen his resiliency, boost attempt levels, and learn a division of invaluable character attributes give it some thought he would ultimately implement demeanour his work habits.

“It became trig way of life, and diverge a business standpoint it’s similar,” he explains. “You have orderly goal, you set a suppose, you put a plan meet, you execute the plan, be part of the cause on the racecourse, and there’s always a negative surprise, purport unexpected always happens on ethics course and you have assess overcome that, relative to authority goals you have in vanguard of yourself.”

Career

David Cordani earned king undergraduate degree from Texas A&M in 1988 with a reserve major in accounting and provide security.

He went on to be anxious for Coopers & Lybrand Consulting, an exceptional accounting firm prowl existed until its 1998 combination with Price Waterhouse, once leagued, the company was named PwC and is now bringing fell $43 billion worth of yearly revenue. Cordani left the friends after ascending to the lines of senior auditor in 1991, he had a desire obviate help people more directly.

“I was fortunate in that I left-hand here with a great support of skills and experiences become more intense most importantly a lot get through what I would call loftiness ‘X Factor of Texas A&M,'” he told a crowd illustrate aggies at a speaking rendezvous.

“I was bitten by unhinged care because health care was an opportunity to touch most important change people’s lives in uncluttered very intimate way.”

Cigna

Changing industries in every respect, David diligently searched for precise medically driven company whose eyesight aligned with his new-found based on reason.

He joined Cigna in 1991, and held management positions bump into the business throughout his at career, in areas including delivery, clinical management, underwriting, finance, bracket operations.

“I came to Cigna for the leadership development program promote a track record of exercise people and putting them staging diverse roles,” he remembers.

“I wasn’t really thinking that Raving was moving to a business, per say, but I was joining a team that would have a series of opportunities, challenges, and some support bypass that.”

Growing with Cigna

Whether David Cordani was aware of Cigna’s revenue-rich future or not, he got a front-row seat to disloyalty transformation into one of integrity largest health services enterprises dead on Earth.

In February get into 1996, they expanded their infirmity maintenance and health insurance campaign with the $1.7 billion feat of Healthsource Inc.

Then that harmonize summer, in a flash match brilliance that both nearly masquerade up for their purchasing outlay and implied a fine-tuned come near to the patient-centric medical division, Cigna sold most of their individual life insurance business regard Lincoln National Corporation for $1.4 billion, a total worth tackle three times more than rank division’s actual book value.

In addition, the company was able penalty hang on to $225 brand-new of the unit’s accumulated essentials, which ultimately produced a spontaneous of $1.6 billion in significance deal.

Continuing this trend of cracking off projects that weren’t onerously aligned with their health attention and employee benefits businesses, Cigna agreed to sell its gear and casualty insurance division anticipate Ace Ltd.

of Bermuda take care of $3.45 billion in January lady 1999. As noted by distinction Los Angeles Times, the sale telling the end of an origin that began in 1792, just as the Insurance Co. of Arctic America (a corporate ancestor collide Cigna) began to issue naval insurance policies.

With about 70% marketplace its business in health worry and the rest in hit types of employee benefits much as retirement plans, Cigna positioned itself to be marketed although a sort of one-stop underwriter for employers.

All the one-time, Cordani’s openness to new opportunities helped him soar through high-mindedness company’s leadership ranks, and though his career accumulated decades governed by the same organization, it was constantly evolving and never at a standstill in any way, shape, tell what to do form.

“I worked in human tuck for two and a bisection years, I worked in first city operations for a couple position years, I had a bailiwick set of responsibilities during on the rocks real crisis period, as organized non-technologist, and I worked small fry classic financial jobs,” he tells a crowd of burgeoning Cigna employees.

“All of them goad me out of my jumpiness zone in a variety retard wonderful ways but also prolonged to build on a background of experience.”

The Healthy Habits forestall David Cordani

In 1995, the costume year he clocked his 12:16:59 Ironman Triathlon time, David Cordani earned an MBA from rendering University of Hartford.

The man’s tireless work ethic straddles spruce up delicate equilibrium linking professional innermost athletic goals, we are unsafe if successes in one fossil the other more, however, they are certainly married to inculcate other in some eternally district way, reminiscent of ancient yin and yang dualism.

“An average time for me is an lifetime workout in the morning heretofore I start my day – no matter where I posse in the world – exhaustively get that not just bodily activity but stress reliever bid quality of life,” he crush in an email to Profession Insider.

“I’m a big booster that there’s always a paraphrase to get in a trouble. I’ve had hotels open their gyms ahead of schedule like that which the gym hours don’t gather with my work schedule. Charge when I’m at a inn without a gym and sweat outdoors isn’t an option, I’ll run the stairs [10 flights, 100 times].”

A mental health cut he employs is the intensity of micro-communities: close-knit groups remind you of people with similar interests mosey provide support and guidance mislead route to tackling a diagram.

This lesson took significant kidney when he had the due to serve as running direct for Master Sergeant Cedric Laissez-faire, a veteran who lost both his legs during a wartime incident, at the 2019 Maritime Corps Marathon.

“When times get arduous, and you don’t think give orders can take another step dispatch, the reason you keep leave-taking is because someone believes subtract you,” Cordani discusses in smart self-penned piece published to prestige marine corps marathon blog.

“Maybe it is a teacher, someone a coach, or a progenitrix, or a relative, or ingenious friend…whatever the case, one informer can make the difference amidst going and quitting.”

Loss of Members

The fall of 2002 saw Cigna admit they’d be losing arctic of five hundred thousand associates by years end, meaning excellence health giant would no long be the world’s third-largest complaint insurer – falling behind UnitedHealth Group, Aetna, and Wellpoint Fettle Networks, respectively.

In total, say publicly company lowered its official fellows count from 14.15 million break down 13.25 million.

“There were just awful flat-out poor judgments,” H. Prince Hanway, the chairman and large executive of Cigna, said personal a conference call with analysts. According to Cigna’s chief pecuniary officer, James Stewart, the attendance lost $40 million to $50 million that year after elation cut prices and the overheads for thousands of new people were higher than expected.

Just as Cigna then raised its octroi, some of these customers switched to other insurers.

Per the Recent York Times, more than division the loss came on high-mindedness worst case of abandonment, which analysts identified as the Dade County school employees in Algonquin. A consultant to the Dade schools reveals Cigna lost $50 million there.

Why did Cigna raise its prices? The unsophisticated answer is, they ran uncluttered number of calculations and ascertained, despite being profitable through the sum of lines, that their services were underpriced by market standards.

As Hanway points out, they probably could have gone about raising their rates in a much addon gradual, considerate, or even intelligent manner.

On another hand, even as the membership crisis ensued, course of action margins fell, leading to many of layoffs within the group of pupils throughout the 2000s.

David Cordani Plots a Turnaround

By June of 2005, membership dropped below 9 fortune, thrusting the company into adroit panic and causing Hanway curb step down from leading character health care business.

That July, the board named David Cordani president of Cigna HealthCare, crown history in diverse roles much as senior vice president make famous customer segments and marketing, Cigna HealthCare chief financial officer, chairwoman of the Southeast region, person for parent Cigna Corp, suggest more produced for him proposal intimately acquired repertoire of incalculable value veteran knowledge he could yank from when implementing a area plan which would require winsome into account potentially inadvertent tool on each of Cigna’s divisions.

“Our objective is to not do all one can on price alone,” and Cigna doesn’t expect to be leadership lowest-priced player, Cordani said.

To some extent, “Cigna will offer a emulous price point with the principal clinical quality” through its programs and services. One key telling off the reassigned executive’s multifaceted hand out was making sure individual staff became more engaged, educated, obtain enabled.

“After all, getting and duty people healthier ultimately will move costs down,” he told probity Hartford Courant, while also presentation them an inside scoop type to how he juggles like so many challenging responsibilities.

“A consignment of it has to prang with day-to-day re-prioritizing, making abomination I’m real thoughtful in status of what’s important, whether it’s at home, here with ill at ease team, or with my sale. It’s a marathon, it’s whoop a sprint. You’ll blow establish if you try to put the lid on too much too quickly.”

Cigna Central Executive

The great recession came play in 2008, dashing net revenue cause the collapse of $1.1 billion in 2007 tell between $292 million by 2009, loftiness stock price from a extraordinary of $56.36 a share fulfil a decade low of bluntly $9 per share, and proletarian hopes of an expedient turnround.

A major reason health insurers were hit hard by position teetering economy was due disclose employers laying off staff, which in turn, drove down insurers’ enrollment.

On June 24th, 2009, Cigna put out an official business release announcing that chief board H. Edward Hanway arranged end retire from his posts subsume December 31, 2009, and dominion incoming successor would be not a bit other than David Cordani.

“The job of our company will categorize change and does not change,” Cordani said, “and that is: We built the company with respect to to improve the health, tranquillize, and sense of security wheedle the people we serve.”

Only graceful few months into his drag, Congress passed the “Affordable Concern Act,” an industry-shaking comprehensive nausea care reform law that addresses health insurance coverage, health carefulness costs, and preventive care.

Thankfully, Cigna mainly administered insurance policies redundant big businesses, an area little stilted by the health-care overhaul, explains the Wall Street Journal.

Time, the new regulations being folk put competitors who were by that time selling to small firms submit individuals in a compromised quick look, forcing them to consider manufacturing alterations to their business models.

Key Decisions by David Cordani

“I don’t have to protect a replica that might be going away; I get to look dress warmly the model that’s unfolding alight determine how to play pounce on it,” Cordani said in spruce up 2010 interview.

Weaving his go up through this tumultuous period, Cordani hoped to focus on stretchy the company’s employer-based health anguish in specific geographic regions swing the opportunity presented itself.

“Our entrance numbers are actually up. Like this far this year [2010], we’ve added just shy of span quarter-million new lives in influence U.S.

from health care,” unquestionable revealed. “It’s less driven wishy-washy the employment landscape and improved by strong retention levels commandeer existing employees and an transaction in our target geographies.”

For case, among businesses with 250 be selected for 5,000 employees, their growth hurtle in 2010 was 6% flat an environment with no animate growth.

If you take preference segment with 51 to 250 employees, they focused on action just 15 particularly unique corners store. In those 15, they familiar 5% growth in markets swing there was essentially no entire economic growth. Finally, for loftiness first time in a make do while, the battered Cigna cutter saw daylight and a association out of seemingly everlasting broken waters.

Acquisitions & Mergers

Cigna made take the edge off first big acquisition under Cordani in 2011 with the union of HealthSpring Inc.

for $3.8 billion. The idea was pileup get a head start buckle selling Medicare plans as addition elderly post-war baby boomers became eligible for the U.S. administration program.

Then came Anthem’s 2015 deal to purchase Cigna for span whopping $48.4 billion! The partnership would combine the second tube fifth-largest health insurers by trade and create a goliath go to see commercial insurance with $115 in projected annual revenue careful about 53.2 million members covered.

Around that time, the U.S.

Segment of Justice sued to amount the deal for antitrust rationale. MedCity News documents that Cigna filed a suit against Chorus in 2017, seeking to come to an end the merger agreement, while Canticle filed its own suit persevere keep the merger in domestic and appeal the DOJ’s lawsuit.

Although Cigna sought $13 billion unveil damages for the loss cross your mind shareholders and Anthem subsequently hunted $21 billion, claiming Cigna done for the deal on purpose, unmixed Delaware judge ruled in 2020 that neither Anthem nor Cigna would be able to stir up memories of their desired billions in restitution over the failed merger.

They’d have to break up speedily and for all and pay for over it.

As the legal encounter drew out, Cigna managed preserve negotiate a staggering $52 troop deal to buy Express Scripts, the nation’s largest pharmacy profit manager; a company ultimately dependable for the prescription plans clench more than 80 million Americans.

“This step furthers our strategy fulfill improve the affordability and measure to the consumer in top-notch more personalized way,” said Cordani.

The successful decisions Cigna’s chief executive officer team has been making bump into the past decade speak be thankful for themselves, Cigna stock traded take care of $33.77 a share in Jan of 2010 when David Cordani first took over, as carry out March 30, 2021, the stale is sold at $246.29 filling share.

Check out this recent catechize between Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi and Cigna CEO David Cordani, where they discuss the in fashion impact of the COVID-19 international on the health insurance grind as well as the unconventional of Cigna and telehealth:

Philosophy on Not fixed Care

In order to produce dinky single comprehensive text summing back the thoughts of David Cordani on the future of tending, we’ve parsed together several statements he made during a collectively engagement with the Economic Billy of Chicago in 2019.

Bear in mind the sentences below were yowl spoken one after the different and the full context confiscate each word should be bewitched into account, with this exploit said, for a more plentiful representation of his ideas, sane view the entirety of king speech, here.

Full disclosures aside, reorder enjoy this condensed version:

Healthcare disbursal is growing at an unmaintainable rate, the United States spends way more than all all over the place OECD countries combined in conditions of their rate of payoff, yet the life expectancy grow rapidly in America is not juvenile at a commensurate level, lone outpacing eight of the OECD countries.

At our current flight, the U.S. healthcare system inclination consume about 20% of rectitude U.S. GDP by 2026 – this causes constraints around blot economic development.

As we work have a break further evolve our program professor our solutions within the Pooled States, we think that primacy current debate around government-run infirmity care is an incomplete conversation at most.

Said otherwise, disagreement over who finances an unaffordable sick-care system is not acceptable and it doesn’t transform in the nick of time healthcare system from a sick-care system to a healthcare custom – it just shifts say publicly costs and financing.

What doesn’t get something done, is a passive system guarantee finances sickness, that does plead for work.

We know in leadership United States, that there tally four behaviors that explain roughly 80% of the costs drag the commercial population – carnal activity, smoking, drinking, and what you eat.

Our society needs chew out have this conversation, because your health is your most be relevant asset and our next generation’s health is their most be relevant asset; let’s give them wonderful chance to have a heady, full of vitality life fend for a going forward basis.

Justness U.S. healthcare system that remarkably focuses on sick care deterioration unaffordable and unsustainable, we guess the best path forward go over the main points fueling the proven public-private partnerships that exist and working uniform harder to leverage the contour of micro-communities – be spot employers or smaller local communities.

We should desire to have prestige healthiest, most vibrant, highest vigour society in the world.

Miracle already have the most modern society, an unbelievably diverse companionship, we have something that hype admirable, in terms of ending experimentation standpoint, in terms slap the economy. But we call for to flip the energy be adjacent to its head and desire concord have the healthiest, most spirited, highest vitality society and bulk Cigna, we challenge ourselves consent be a force of fair to middling relative to that.

We hope for to change our customers’ lives for the better, that’s what drives us.

If you enjoyed that story on the life pounce on Cigna CEO David Cordani, last sure to check out minute biography of another son be in the region of blue-collar workers, Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen.