It’s Fun, It’s Free and It Rewards You: CIGNA Launches learn4yourhealth

While most Americans think they understand health care in general, they rank their understanding about their specific health care plans at the bottom of the pile under common contracts like mortgages, cable TV, cell phones, retirement plans and car warranties, according to a new CIGNA (NYSE:CI) survey. Many also say they spend under half an hour a year reviewing and choosing a health plan and that it stresses them out to think about health care costs and care.

Recognizing that people may not be familiar with their health plans or health care issues, CIGNA launched a new fun and free educational program for the general public that can be found on www.cigna.com/learn4yourhealth. This innovative program combines digital tools, games, discounts from popular brands and the latest adult learning techniques, all designed to help everyone better understand health and make more confident decisions about health care. The educational program is part of CIGNA's ongoing multi-year initiative to simplify communications and improve people’s understanding of health care.

The program includes a "Learn & Earn” incentive feature, a first in the health care industry, designed to reward individuals for learning and encourage users to share the program with their family and friends. Every time participants take a five-minute online mini-course, they receive free coupons with discounts to leading entertainment, food, and retail destinations including eMusic, Restaurant.com, cooking.com, ShopPBS.org, Gaiam.com, Fetchdog.com, Gardener’s Supply Company, Barnes & Noble.com, SportsAuthority.com, drugstore.com™, ProFlowers, RedEnvelope and more. Other discounts are being offered through CIGNA’s clients such as Carlson Companies, KinderCare® Learning Centers, Novartis and Ruby Tuesday.

"learn4yourhealth is part of CIGNA's service commitment. This is not simply a static Web site or online ‘brochureware’ but a program that truly helps to make the path to health easier while rewarding individuals for proactively taking positive steps to improve their health,” said Benjamin Karsch, CIGNA's chief marketing officer. "Our goal is to make learning about health and health care more engaging and rewarding.”

As part of the program mix, an enhanced version of the popular Why Water? health education game introduced last year is back. Developed with the charity Water For People, the game teaches players important health care information while also contributing to the awareness of the need for safe drinking water around the world and as the foundation of good health.

The program builds on a pilot program from last year with new state-of-the-art interactive insights into the health care system and tips on saving money and reducing out-of-pocket costs in health care. Additional courses on managing a health care budget and understanding health care reform will be added in the coming months – good news for the 27 percent of Americans who said in CIGNA's survey that they would grade themselves a "D” or an "F” in their understanding of health care reform.

Plans are under way to co-brand and offer the program to several CIGNA clients for use on their employee Web sites. "learn4yourhealth demonstrates innovation in health care education by adding incentives that drive learning, through which people can stretch their budgets and enjoy discounts on brand-name products and services,” said Matt Manders, senior vice president of CIGNA's health operations. "We’re pleased to be able to share this program with companies of all kinds as we support employers in their ongoing quest to create a healthier workplace for their employees.”

The learn4yourhealth program is located at www.cigna.com/learn4yourhealth and is accessible on Facebook and YouTube.

About the Survey

This survey was sponsored by CIGNA to determine consumers’ understanding of health care, generally, and their health care coverage, specifically. This report presents the findings of a telephone survey conducted among a national probability sample of 1,001 adults comprising 502 men and 499 women 18 years of age and older, living in private households in the continental United States. The survey was carried out by Opinion Research Corporation using their CARAVAN® telephone sampling methodology. Interviewing was completed during the period of July 23-26, 2009. The survey’s sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points for values at or near 50 percent, given a 95 percent confidence interval.

About CIGNA

CIGNA (NYSE:CI), a global health service company, is dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense of security. CIGNA Corporation's operating subsidiaries provide an integrated suite of medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy and vision care benefits, as well as group life, accident and disability insurance, to more than 46 million people throughout the United States and around the world. To learn more about CIGNA, visit www.cigna.com. To sign up for email alerts or an RSS feed of company news log on to http://newsroom.cigna.com/section_display.cfm?section_id=18.