iPMI Magazine speaks with Phil Austin, Head of Global Individual Private Medical Insurance at Cigna

Oct. 27, 2013 - PRLog -- As Head of Cigna’s Global Individual Private Medical Insurance division, Phil is developing and implementing the company’s individual consumer strategy on an international scale and creating a world-class international individual business. He is also responsible for building the business segment and driving profitable growth, targeting high net worth and globally mobile individuals through various channels such as the internet, bancassurance and intermediaries in key global markets.

Phil brings over 20 years of experience in global sales, marketing, product strategy and general management to the Cigna Global Health Options team. He returns to Cigna after serving as Vice President of the European Group A&H (Accident and Health) Business for Chartis.

Phil first joined Cigna International in 2002 as Partnership Director for the UK business. He went on to hold several positions within the organisation, including Health, Life & Accident (HL&A) Europe Sales & Marketing Director and Interim CEO for HL&A Europe.

Cigna, the US based global health insurer posted a staggering $29bn revenue last year, and has over 14 million customers on its books. They have just launched a new set of IPMI products targeted at global expatriates and iPMIM finds out more.

You rejoined Cigna in 2011. Why did you return?

We launched our global individual PMI business in 2011, and it was an opportunity I simply couldn’t miss. This is clearly a market which is seeing exponential growth, it’s a very fast moving market, and that’s something I really wanted to be part of. Getting the chance to run our global individual expatriate business has certainly presented its own challenges. In a lot of ways it’s very different from the Corporate business, but the principles are still the same – Cigna have a reputation for high service, high quality plans, and that is now being continued in the individual market. The other thing that really excites me about Cigna is the way that the customer truly is at the centre of everything we do – everything is focused on the needs of the individual, and we don’t get closer to this than in the expatriate individual business.

What is Cigna’s take on iPMI?

Our individual iPMI products have been built around the needs of customers and brokers. We stripped back the concept of what an iPMI plan ‘should’ look like, and rebuilt this with things like flexible module options, cost shares and deductibles. What we have now are 3 plans which give our customers and brokers absolutely flexibility and choice to build a plan which meets their unique needs and fits their budget. Our top level Platinum product has some of the richest benefits on the market; whilst our Silver and Gold products present options for expatriates who are still looking for a quality plan, but perhaps don’t need cover for things like maternity. Every customer still benefits from the customer service which Cigna is known for, and gets access to our 24-hour global control centre and network of over 1 million hospitals and physicians worldwide.

Cigna has a huge amount of experience in the expatriate market, primarily through Corporate plans. We’ve also worked extensively in global markets for the last 30 years offering individual health, life and accident plans – so moving into iPMI was a natural next step in this journey. We’re now taking those years of experience and learnings and applying them to the iPMI market, which has given us a really great platform to provide our customers with what they want.

Read the complete interview on the brand new iPMIM health and medical insurance platform at http://www.ipmimagazine.com/medical-health-insurance/inde...

International Private Medical Insurance Magazine (iPMIM) is the ultimate Health and Medical Insurance Digital Media serving expatriate, corporate, health and travel insurance markets.

Due to the nomadic nature of the international healthcare industry iPMI Magazine is an internet based news service, for worldwide healthcare professionals, who need to understand the impacts of healthcare and insurance policy, regulatory, and legislative developments.

Combined with in depth health insurance industry analysis, best-in-class health insurance industrydata, and exclusive, C-Suite Executive health insurance interviews and round tables, iPMI Magazine bridges an information gap between healthcare payor, provider and patient.

Written by the health and medical insurance industry, for the health and medical insurance industry, iPMIM is supported and designed by leading international medical insurance companies and service providers.