vielife to continue to operate as an independent, stand-alone brand to
serve current and future customers worldwide
BLOOMFIELD, Conn., Dec. 13, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CIGNA today
announced it has further expanded its consumer engagement and health
advocacy capabilities through its acquisition of privately held vielife, a
U.K.-based leading provider of integrated online health management and
coaching programs. vielife, based in London, provides health risk
assessment, behavioral change programs and online coaching for over 1.3
million people in the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia. Terms
of the agreement were not disclosed.
These online programs and other coaching and health advocacy programs
offered by CIGNA are designed to help address the most common, costly - and
preventable - causes of death and disability. According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic diseases, such as heart
disease, cancer and diabetes, account for seven out of every 10 deaths and
affect the quality of life of 90 million Americans. Also according to the
CDC, adopting healthy lifestyle behaviors can prevent or control the
effects of chronic diseases. CIGNA's coaching programs are targeted to
healthy and at-risk individuals to help them make positive changes in
health behaviors, such as becoming more physically active or eating more
nutritiously, to reduce risks and to maintain or improve health.
Combining the significant health advocacy strengths of CIGNA with
vielife's online coaching capabilities and technology platform further
enhances CIGNA's ability to engage consumers, particularly on lifestyle
issues such as those related to sleep, stress, nutrition and fitness. These
complementary components are valuable additions to CIGNA's robust portfolio
of health and wellness programs, supplementing the initiatives aimed at
preventing future health problems. vielife's capabilities will help enable
CIGNA to develop the industry's next generation of integrated health
advocacy programs to meet the evolving needs of the marketplace.
"CIGNA and vielife share a core philosophy and a common goal of
improving the health and productivity of populations by actively engaging
healthy and at-risk individuals even before an adverse health event
occurs," said Keith Dixon, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of
CareAllies and CIGNA Behavioral Health. "We are committed to helping
individuals live vibrant, healthier lives. Our goal is to help people
understand and then address and prevent the modifiable causes of health
problems, rather than simply treating illness after it has already
occurred. We do this through a focus on early identification of risk
factors and promoting health and well-being, using information and coaching
to encourage and support individuals in this process."
"Over the last five years, vielife has grown to become the largest
global provider of integrated online health and well-being services," said
Clive Pinder, vielife's managing director. "We believe that employers,
health plans and governments are now looking for more extensive integrated
health management solutions and benefits, so joining forces with CIGNA was
a natural and strategic progression for us. We have access to the global
resource we need to support our growth plans and more importantly we are
able to offer our clients and the communities we serve a more complete and
integrated portfolio of products."
In addition to the expanded capabilities it brings to CIGNA's medical,
health management and behavioral health businesses, vielife will continue
to provide its products and services under the vielife brand to specific
target markets.
Internationally, the acquisition of vielife brings added market-leading
capabilities to the CIGNA portfolio through which CIGNA International will
be able to seamlessly integrate additional health and well-being programs
into the health care coverage it offers to employers. In light of the
transaction, CIGNA International will be able to combine private medical
insurance with innovative absence, occupational health and employee
assistance programs, and health and well-being management programs,
initially in the U.K. and thereafter in other geographic markets.
About CIGNA
As a Business of Caring, CIGNA (NYSE: CI) provides employers with
benefits, expertise and services that improve the health, well-being and
productivity of their employees. With approximately 47 million covered
lives in the United States and around the world, CIGNA's operating
subsidiaries offer a full portfolio of medical, dental, behavioral health,
pharmacy and vision care benefits and group life, accident and disability
insurance. As of June 30, 2006, 20.4 million individuals were enrolled in a
CIGNA medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy or vision plan in the
United States. Additionally, 3.9 million people were covered by a CIGNA
disability policy, 9.8 million were covered by a CIGNA life insurance
policy and 9.1 million were covered by a CIGNA accident policy. CIGNA also
has 3.7 million life, accident and health policies in force in the Asia
Pacific region, Europe and Chile, covers nearly 240,000 expatriate members
in more than 170 countries and jurisdictions, and has more than 440,000
health care members in the United Kingdom, Spain, Chile and Guatemala.
About CareAllies
CareAllies offers benefit plan sponsors and their employees a
proactive, consistent and consumer-focused approach to health and wellness,
regardless of their medical plan or provider network. CareAllies'
proprietary health management and wellness program suite helps employees
improve their health and productivity through patient support, motivation
and coaching, medical information and assistance with management of
clinical services. CareAllies programs are administered through Intracorp,
a CIGNA HealthCare company. For more information, visit
http://www.careallies.com/ .
About vielife
vielife is a global leader in the development and delivery of
integrated health & well-being (HWB) programmes to increase productivity
and reduce health care costs. We serve over 1.3 million users worldwide. As
a global leader in the critical task of transforming the way individuals,
employers, health plans and governments manage physical and emotional
well-being, we empower and support vibrant and productive people. Using a
unique evidence- based approach that integrates four critical areas of HWB
- sleep, stress, nutrition and physical activity - with proven 'stages of
change' methodology, vielife identifies which people issues drive
performance and helps organisations manage HWB through health management
programmes that are directly linked to business and cost drivers. vielife's
services include personalised health assessments linked to tailored
behavioural change programmes including weight management, smoking
cessation, stress management, and physical activity. http://www.vielife.com
SOURCE CIGNA Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.cigna.com
http://www.careallies.com http://www.vielife.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/165050.html/
CONTACT:
Amy Turkington, CIGNA HealthCare,
+1-860-226-3489, amy.turkington@cigna.com; or Ann Dougan, CIGNA
International, 01475 492484, ann.dougan@cigna.com
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