Illinois | Winter | 2008 | Health Plan Analysis

Illinois' healthcare industry may see CIGNA HealthCare emerge as a more formidable player in the ASO and small group sectors thanks to its purchase of Great-West Healthcare. While Great-West was not a large player in terms of market share, the company does present some growth opportunities for CIGNA, whose PPO is a third-tier player in the Illinois market.

As an Illinois court holds forth on Gov. Rod Blagojevich's attempts to unilaterally enact portions of his healthcare reform package, the unpopular governor is continuing to push for additional regulatory changes affecting insurers. The governor's bull-in-a-china-shop style isn't winning any points, and few believe he's likely to win approval of much of his agenda.

Illinois' promising e-prescribing effort has the new backing of UnitedHealthcare, whose participation will strengthen Illinois' financially self-sustaining e-perscribing experiment.