Cigna Group will stop offering health plans in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces at the end of this year, executives said, an exit that could pose a fresh challenge for the Obamacare customers who have seen
The decision makes Cigna the second large health insurer to leave the market in as many years, after CVS Health's Aetna unit withdrew.
"We did not make this decision lightly and appreciate the importance of ensuring patients have continuity through the transition," Cigna Chief Operating Officer Brian Evanko said on a call with analysts. "This is a small business for us today and it's been shrinking in recent years," Evanko said.
The company had fewer than 400,000 customers in Affordable Care Act plans, a sliver of its 18 million medical customers.
Cigna also said it would evaluate strategic options for its EviCore business, which handles prior authorizations and other services for health plans. Cigna said it reduced the volume of medical prior reviews in its own insurance plans by 15% as part of an industry-wide response to complaints about the practice.
Cigna shares fell 3.6% at 9:38 a.m. in New York.
The company reported first-quarter profit ahead of Wall Street estimates and lifted its outlook for the year as healthcare expenses in its medical plans came in lower than forecasts.
Adjusted earnings of $7.79 a share topped the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Cigna nudged its 2026 profit outlook up by 10 cents a share to at least $30.35, the company said in a statement Thursday. A key gauge of medical costs was more favorable than Wall Street expected.
The results extend a string of favorable reports from U.S. health insurers for the start of 2026. Cigna's medical plan business drove the company's earnings, while the company's Evernorth health services segment, which includes the largest U.S. drug benefits manager, powered revenue growth. Selling, general and administrative expenses declined from a year ago.
Still, the results show pressure in Cigna's pharmacy benefits division, where changes that executives called a major business model pivot sparked a historic selloff in Cigna's shares in October. The company is revamping its drug benefits arm in a way that it says will be more
Adjusted pretax income from the pharmacy benefits business dropped 28% from a year ago. Cigna lost members in its pharmacy division, as some clients left and others saw membership decline. Profit in its specialty and care services division jumped by 20%, while margins in its health plan business expanded.
The results show "a solid start to the year, though PBM margins look light," Barclays analyst Andrew Mok wrote.
Cigna Chief Executive Officer David Cordani is set to step back from the role in July, as Evanko will take the top job.
