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 attained when every person has the opportunity to achieve 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 things 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

Our Partners

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.

In the first cohort of The Cigna Group Health Equity Impact Fund, we partnered with 15 organizations in Hartford, CT, and Houston, TX. Hartford grantees are focused on increasing access to health care. Houston grantees are working to address and reduce the prevalence of obesity and diabetes.

Our Approach

The goal of the Cigna Group Health Equity Impact Fund is to support, convene, and collaborate with nonprofit organizations serving local community members. This Fund operates on a hyper-local level in select U.S. cities and has committed $3 million each year to support local nonprofits.

Our first grantee cohort is advancing innovative projects in Hartford, CT, and Houston, TX.

For the second cohort, we are seeking to support nonprofits that are serving community members in Hartford, CT, and St. Louis, MO.

Hartford, Connecticut

In the capital city of the state where our company is headquartered, we will continue to advance health equity and address disparities in our own backyard. Hartford struggles with 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 lack of access to primary care and/or lack of trust in care.^3,4

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.

St. Louis, Missouri

Residents of St. Louis 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.^5,6,7

Fund goals:

• Increase access to treatment and support for substance use disorders in adults.
• Increase access to mental health services for adults.