HCSC’s Planned Purchase of Cigna’s MA Assets Will Boost Fast-Growing Segment

After reportedly vying with Elevance Health, Inc. for the purchase of The Cigna Group’s Medicare Advantage business, Health Care Service Corp. (HCSC) will buy Cigna’s MA, Medicare Supplemental, Medicare Part D and CareAllies assets for a total transaction value of $3.7 billion. HCSC has been aggressively growing its MA business through service area expansions; the addition of Cigna’s MA lives would boost its current share of the segment from 0.62% to 2.40%, according to AIS’s Directory of Health Plans.

In a press release unveiling the deal, the Chicago-based insurer said the acquisition will accelerate its growth in “an important market segment” and “bring many opportunities to HCSC and its members - including a wider range of product offerings, robust clinical programs and a larger geographic reach.” HCSC is customer-owned, meaning policyholders and not stockholders are the owners, and is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Its Blues plans currently enroll 204,638 members across five states: Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.