Cigna Remains Atop Stop-Loss Segment, but Blues Muscle Up

With premiums steadily rising and turbulence shaking up the market-share leaderboard, the stop-loss insurance segment has become integral to many health plans’ portfolios in recent years. Experts believe the level of competition will only grow as more employers transition to self-funded plans.

Net premiums earned (NPE) for stop-loss insurance, an additional layer of coverage that protects employers against extremely high-dollar claims, reached $26 billion in 2021, according to a new report from credit rating firm A.M. Best. That’s up from $24 billion in NPE in 2020 — and more than double the $11.6 billion in total NPE seven years earlier in 2014.