Rising to the Challenge (adapted from a letter to Cigna’s colleagues around the world)

Over the past several days you may have seen videos of quarantined people from Rome to Boston and in other cities around the world. They’re taking to their apartment balconies to cheer on tired health care professionals, lead exercise groups, play instruments, or sing together to lift their community. One video from Naples, Italy, showed people singing a song with the lyric, “Tell me what it is which makes us feel like we’re together, even when we’re apart.” The humanity displayed by these individuals, and what they are expressing, are the images and lessons I will take forward with me in the days and weeks ahead. 

People are concerned for their own health, and the health of their children, parents, friends and neighbors. Many are experiencing stress in new and previously unimaginable ways. I see this first-hand as the CEO of Cigna, and I experience it personally as a spouse and parent, as well as someone with older parents who are in the age group more susceptible to suffering severe symptoms should they contract the virus.

As a global health service company, Cigna has been actively engaged in confronting the coronavirus for several months, beginning in Asia. And, we have already taken several steps to mitigate the pandemic impact, and support our communities as well as all those we serve. 

Leading for our communities and customers

To connect people, whether or not they’re Cigna customers, we established a 24-hour, toll-free help line (1-866-912-1687) staffed by qualified clinicians who can provide support and guidance, including general education and stress management advice. Next week, we will offer a free webcast with tools and techniques for stress management and building resiliency, and will also have mindfulness podcast sessions available. Information on all of Cigna’s publicly available resources can be found on our websites (Cigna/Express Scripts). 

For our customers, we have removed financial barriers to make it easier for them to seek a doctor’s visit and diagnostic testing for coronavirus symptoms when they need it. We also expanded our coverage to include telehealth appointments related to coronavirus diagnosis through May 31, 2020, and are focused on making telehealth more accessible for customers with compromised immune systems.

And for our Cigna colleagues, we rapidly equipped thousands to work from home – to keep our teams healthy and able to serve our 170 million customer relationships around the world. 

Our efforts will not stop. We will continue looking forward - and will do more – to serve our customers, our employees, and our communities.

Follow the advice of experts

As a community, it’s critical that we listen to the advice of health care experts and stay up-to-date on the facts around coronavirus – which can be really difficult to navigate in these early stages, especially due to some conflicting information. 

Here is what we do know. The best ways to prevent transmission of the virus are:

• through frequently washing your hands with soap and water;
• maintaining physical distance (six feet is recommended) from others outside of your household;
• avoiding touching your face; and
• covering your cough with a tissue or sleeve.

 You’ve likely heard this advice many times; it’s because it works and I encourage you to follow it. On average, the amount of time from virus exposure to displaying symptoms is a little more than five days. Nearly all people who have contracted the virus will display symptoms by day 14. This is why you’ve heard so much about 14-day quarantines.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is an excellent resource for more information, as is Cigna’s coronavirus online resource center.

This is a human moment

I urge us to do all we can to stay connected. “Social distancing” is really about maintaining physical distance. We know from Cigna’s research on loneliness that right now, we actually need our social connections more than ever! Take some time to check in on someone who might be alone or vulnerable. We have a program in South Korea called “Care Call,” where our Cigna colleagues check in regularly with seniors who live alone, just to make sure they’re OK, or if they need any help. Our colleagues have made more than 100,000 calls to seniors since beginning the program in 2011. I love this, and it’s a great idea for all of us to take on personally, too, at this time of need for so many.

This is a very “human” moment for all of us, and as a society, we will rise to meet this challenge – together.