Cigna is teaming up with HelloFresh, which delivers meal kits to customers' homes, to make discounts for its services available in its employer plans.
The insurer said Tuesday that employer plan sponsors will be able to choose from multiple HelloFresh offerings for members, including discounted meal kit subscriptions, electronic gift cards and one-time home deliveries to employees without a subscription.
HelloFresh customers receive fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and step-by-step recipes for healthy meals.
"Business leaders recognize that healthy employees mean a healthy business, and by expanding access to affordable, healthy meals, employers can better cultivate a stronger workforce," said Heather Dlugolenski, U.S. commercial strategy officer for Cigna Healthcare, in the press release. "We're proud to team up with HelloFresh to support the health and vitality of America's workforce and to make a difference for communities in need."
Cigna said the new program could reach as many as 12 million people in its employer plans. The insurer's parent company, the Cigna Group, found in its 2023 Vitality in America study that 1 in 3 workers faced food insecurity within the past three months.
In addition to the new benefit option, the two will partner to support HelloFresh's Meals with Meaning program, according to the press release. This initiative provides free meal kits to people in local communities who are dealing with food insecurity.
"We're excited to team up with Cigna Healthcare to make fresh and wholesome HelloFresh meal kits available as a healthcare benefit," said Adam Kalikow, senior vice president and managing director of meal kits at HelloFresh U.S., in the release. "This partnership emphasizes the important role that home cooking plays in supporting consumers' overall health and well-being. Together with Cigna Healthcare, we're making HelloFresh meal kits even more accessible while working together to combat food insecurity in our local communities."