Cigna Will Leave the ACA Marketplaces After the 2026 Plan Year, Affecting 369,000 Members in 11 States, and Opens a Strategic Review of Its eviCore Unit

Cigna, the Connecticut-based health insurer, has said it will leave the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. This article is based on a Hartford Business Journal report of Cigna's announcement, which was made together with the company's first-quarter 2026 results. The report says Cigna made the announcement on a Thursday; it does not give the date in the text reviewed, and it attributes the member count to Forbes. Cigna's own release was not reviewed. Readers should check the company's filing for the exact date.

What Cigna announced

Cigna said it will stop offering plans on the ACA marketplaces after the 2026 plan year, in order to focus on what it called core growth areas. In practice that means that members who bought individual plans from Cigna through the marketplaces will need a plan from another insurer for 2027. According to the report, the exit affects 369,000 health plan members in 11 states, a figure the report credits to Forbes. The report does not name the 11 states. It notes that Cigna does not currently participate in Connecticut's exchange, having withdrawn from that market in 2018.

What happens to members

Cigna says there will be no immediate changes to coverage or provider networks and that members will be supported through the transition, including during open enrollment for 2027. Open enrollment is the annual period in which people can pick a marketplace plan. A person who loses a plan because the insurer leaves the market generally has to choose a new plan, and the new plan may have different premiums, deductibles and networks, so doctors and prescriptions should be checked. The report does not describe any specific support measures beyond Cigna's statement.

The eviCore review

Cigna also launched a strategic review of eviCore, a business that provides prior-authorization and utilization-management services to health plans. Prior authorization is the process in which an insurer decides in advance whether it will pay for a treatment, and utilization management is the wider set of controls on use of services. The company says it will explore ways to improve transparency, reduce administrative complexity and increase efficiency. The report gives no timeline and no stated outcome. It adds that prior-authorization processes have been criticised by providers and policymakers as burdensome and opaque. A strategic review can end in a sale, a restructuring or no change, and the report does not say which is likely.

First-quarter results

The report gives Cigna's financial results for the quarter ended March 31. Net income was $1.7 billion, or $6.26 per share, up from $1.3 billion, or $4.85 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 5% to $68.5 billion. The report says growth came from Evernorth Health Services, which includes pharmacy benefit management and specialty pharmacy, and from improved margins in the company's US healthcare business; specialty drugs are described as a key growth area. Cigna expects full-year adjusted earnings of at least $30.35 per share, slightly above its prior forecast. A simple calculation, done for this article, shows earnings per share up about 29% ($6.26 against $4.85).

Leadership and portfolio

Brian Evanko, Cigna's president and chief operating officer, takes over as chief executive on July 1. The report quotes him as describing the moves as a disciplined and consistent approach to aligning the portfolio with long-term strategy. It adds that Cigna has recently divested its group life and disability business and its Medicare Advantage operations. Taken together with the marketplace exit and the eviCore review, the report portrays a company reshaping itself around pharmacy benefits and its core US health business.

What the report does not say

Several things are not covered: the names of the 11 states, the reasons beyond core growth areas, any financial effect of the exit on the company, the future of employer-sponsored coverage that Cigna continues to sell, and what the exit means for the competition in the affected markets. Other insurers' plans for 2027 are also outside the scope of the report, and this article does not rely on any claim about how many other carriers are leaving.

What members should do

People enrolled in a Cigna marketplace plan should watch for notices from the insurer and the marketplace, compare plans during the 2027 open enrollment period, check whether their doctors and medicines are covered, and confirm any deadlines for avoiding a gap in coverage. If their income qualifies for premium tax credits, those apply to plans bought through the marketplace, so staying on the marketplace is usually the way to keep them. That is general information and not specific to any member.

How to read the timeline

Two dates in the report matter for planning. The exit takes effect after the 2026 plan year, which means Cigna's plans remain in force through the end of 2026, and the 2027 open enrollment period is when affected members must choose again. The report gives no separate date for the strategic review. Because the company announced the exit months before enrollment begins, members and brokers have time to compare options, although the report does not say when Cigna will send individual notices.

Limits

This article relies on a single regional business report and, for the member count, on Forbes as cited in that report. It is general information, not insurance or financial advice.