There is a clear connection between oral health and overall well-being. New research from Cigna Healthcare shows that people with mental health disorders, for example, often use dental services less frequently. Additionally, factors affecting mental and oral health share common attributes, suggesting that integrated medical, dental, and behavioral health treatment can lead to better overall health outcomes. In this episode of Health Unscripted, our host Jason Youngblood, director of behavioral account management at Cigna Healthcare, sits down with Dr. Cary Sun, a dentist and the chief dental officer at Cigna Healthcare, to talk about the evolving dental care landscape and the implications for employers.

The complexity of the U.S. health care system can make it difficult for people to understand their health benefits, affecting individual health and work productivity. With 164 million Americans relying on employer-sponsored health benefits, enhancing health insurance literacy is essential for improving overall health and business success. In this episode of Health Unscripted, Bryan Holgerson, president of Cigna Healthcare U.S., discusses how employers can boost health insurance literacy and offers strategies for doing so.

In this episode of Health Unscripted, Tim Harlan, vice president of account management for health plans at Express Scripts by Evernorth, sits down with Dr. Gerry Stanley, chief medical officer, and Ashley Holzworth-Nash, vice president of retail network product strategy and solutions for a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities within the GLP-1 landscape. Discover actionable strategies to optimize coverage, control costs, and support better patient outcomes.

In this episode of Health Unscripted, David Cordani, chairman and CEO of The Cigna Group, sits down with Eva Borden, president of behavioral health at Evernorth Health Services, to explore the state of vitality and the depths of the mental health crisis in America – and how U.S. employers are well-positioned to help drive better, more sustainable outcomes. 

As advocates for improving access, affordability, and outcomes, Evernorth Health Services is taking on some of the biggest challenges in the health care industry, including rising costs and fragmented care.In this episode, Eric Palmer, president and CEO of Evernorth, and executive vice president for enterprise strategy for The Cigna Group, discusses why the company is well positioned to improve health care experiences and outcomes while driving down costs. He debunks some of the biggest misconceptions about pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs), discusses how data-driven insights can help personalize care, and outlines how Evernorth’s specialty pharmacy capabilities set it apart from the competition.   

U.S. employers are uniquely positioned to enable and empower employees to get the mental health care, services, and support they need to achieve their best health – which in turn fuels higher productivity and performance and positions the organization for growth. In this episode of Health Unscripted, Jason Youngblood, director of behavioral clinical account management at Cigna Healthcare and a licensed behavioral health clinician, sits down with Marci Guertin, behavioral health product strategy director, to talk about the state of mental health in the U.S. workforce and provide actionable tips for how employers can improve their employees’ mental health, vitality, and productivity.

When young people struggle with their mental health, the ripple effect reaches beyond the people close to them to workplaces, schools, and communities.Employers in the United States spend more than $200B annually on behavioral health care for employees and their dependents, and shoulder additional costs from lost productivity, missed work, and more. Yet, despite this enormous spend, the number of American children and young adults struggling with mental health issues continues to grow. In this episode of Health Unscripted, Evernorth’s Eva Borden explores new data from the Evernorth Research Institute that reveals the depths of the challenges working parents face as they care for children with mental health concerns – and how U.S. employers are uniquely well-positioned to help drive better, more sustainable behavioral health outcomes. 

A person’s gender, race, education, income, or ZIP code should never dictate the quality of their health. But the sad truth is that 68% of Americans report that challenges meeting social needs have harmed their health in the last year. While numerous factors can impede the quest for better health, physical, environmental, and social and economic factors – known as social determinants of health (SDOH) – have a more significant collective impact on health and health outcomes than clinical care. In this episode of the Health Unscripted Podcast, Dr. Neema Stephens and Brooke Tomblin of The Cigna Group explore the health equity landscape – including industry challenges, barriers to care, and ways The Cigna Group is partnering with customers, clients, and communities to transform the way care is accessed, delivered, and coordinated. 

Increasing health care costs, issues accessing and navigating care, and a growing need for convenience are driving people to demand more as they seek care that meets their needs and preferences. At the same time, data and technology are powering a health care transformation with the potential to drive greater access, engagement, and innovation, to improve health outcomes for patients, and to reduce costs for the employers who provide health insurance to their workforce and their families. In this episode of the Health Unscripted Podcast, Heather Dlugolenski of Cigna Healthcare explores a number of trends employers should keep an eye on in 2024 and beyond.

Vitality is a person’s ability to live life with health, strength, and energy – and in the world of work, it equates to high-performing, motivated, and healthy employees. That’s a key finding from the 2023 Vitality in America report, which is based on a survey of 10,000 adults conducted by Morning Consult and commissioned by The Cigna Group. In this episode of the Health Unscripted Podcast, Kathryn Rider of The Cigna Group walks us through some of the key findings of this year's report, as well as key insights around how to engage and delight high vitality employees in order to drive your business forward in 2024.