Cigna University Offers an Easy-A Courseload... For Cost-Shifting to Consumers

(MoneyWatch)  Health-insurance companies like Cigna are busy ramping up warm-and-fuzzy PR efforts to deflect the loathing of their members, but their intentions go well beyond spiffing up their corporate images. In the case of Cigna's "Cigna University" -- part of a multimillion-dollar ad campaign expected to run for several years -- the goal is simple, if not exactly subtle: Convince people that they're actually better off when they pick up a bigger portion of their healthcare bill.

To that end, Cigna has unveiled a soft-music and pastel-hued Web site -- click the image at left for a larger version -- built around its new slogan, "It's time to feel better." (Feel better about what, exactly, isn't immediately clear. Probably not your healthcare costs.) Although the site doesn't wear its agenda on its sleeve, it's not exactly hidden, either: One of the first resources touted on a page labeled "It's time for real change in the marketplace" is a 2007 Cigna white paper titled, "Is Consumerism the Health Care Silver Bullet?" (PDF link).

I've got a longer review of the Cigna site after the jump, but here's the capsule version: To the extent that its descriptions of consumer-directed healthcare are honest, they're all but incomprehensible, and to the extent the site offers understandable information on healthcare, it frequently borders on outright dishonesty. Although it does offer some unintentional hilarity along the way, including the animated adventures of "Harry the Health Claim." Check it out on the next page.

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