Reducing Barriers to Health Equity

Our Commitment

The Cigna Group Foundation is committing $9 million over three years to reduce key barriers to health equity through The Cigna Group Health Equity Impact Fund. Programming will address root causes of specific health disparities most prevalent in local communities.

Our Why

Health equity is achieved when every person can reach their fullest health potential, regardless of economic, environmental, physical, or social circumstances.¹ We know that 80% of a person’s health is affected by drivers outside of medical care. These include personal habits and traits, and the conditions in the places where individuals live, play, and work—known as the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH).²

The work we want to do in our communities cannot be done alone. Many great nonprofit organizations have the reach and local network necessary to build healthier communities, so contributing to and collaborating with them will help strengthen our collective impact.

Our Approach

The goal of The Cigna Group Foundation’s Health Equity Impact Fund is to support, convene, and collaborate with local nonprofit organizations serving their community members. This Fund operates on a hyper-local level in select U.S. cities—including Hartford, the capital city of the state where our company is headquartered—and has committed $3 million each year to support local nonprofits.

Cohort 1 (2024-2026)

In the first cohort, we partnered with 15 organizations in Hartford, Connecticut, and Houston, Texas. Hartford grantees are focused on increasing access to health care. Houston grantees are working to address and reduce the prevalence of obesity and diabetes, two conditions driving significant disease burden in the U.S. To learn more about early progress of this first cohort, visit The Cigna Group Newsroom.

Cohort 2 (2025-2027)

For the second cohort, we awarded 4 grants serving community members in Hartford, Connecticut, and 10 grants to nonprofits supporting community members in St. Louis, Missouri.

In St. Louis, residents have disproportionately higher rates of death from substance use disorders and are more likely to visit the emergency room for a mental health challenge than other counties in Missouri.^3,4,5 Our aim is to increase access to mental health care and substance use disorder treatment by supporting nonprofits that focus on these health disparities.

Cohort 3 (2026-2028)

Hartford, Connecticut

We continue to advance health equity and address disparities in our own backyard. Hartford faces high poverty rates and lower life expectancy compared to other Connecticut cities. Additionally, Hartford residents are disproportionately likely to forgo health care due to lack of access to reliable transportation and primary care, as well as lack of trust in care.^6,7

Fund goals:

• Expand the availability of providers and related community-based resources for adults that reflect culturally appropriate care models.
• Increase access to transportation for adults to attend health visits and healthy physical activities.

Memphis, Tennessee

Residents of Memphis have higher rates of diabetes and heart disease and struggle with obtaining affordable primary care services.⁸

Fund goals:

• Increase access to affordable primary care services.
• Increase access to healthy foods, nutrition education, and healthy lifestyle activities.