The top official at health insurer Cigna Corp. ( CI ) shrugged off concerns Monday that the industry might have set prices too low heading into 2013, raising the risk for pressure on margins as health costs for members tick higher.
“We feel great about the pricing we executed in 2012,” Cigna Chief Executive David Cordani said, speaking at J.P. Morgan’s health-care conference.
He was responding to a question about a recent Wall Street analysts’ survey of employers that raised concerns last week about insurers potentially seeing health costs rise more than prices this year, based on the rates they’ve set.
Mr. Cordani said Cigna is “pricing really well,” and that “we see no cautions relative to the marketplace.”
Separately, the CEO acknowledged the active flu season, which can push up costs as members head to the doctor or hospitals. Cigna has seen some increases in health-care usage due to the virus, but “nothing dramatic,” Mr. Cordani said.
He also reiterated during his remarks Cigna’s long-term goal of increasing per-share earnings in a 10%-13% range per year, on average.