In the highly competitive world of health insurance, CIGNA has always stood for quality. Over the past year, innovations and improvements made by our health care, group disability and life, and international insurance operations have strengthened our foothold in the industry and helped make CIGNA a name healthcare providers and healthcare consumers can trust. It is unfortunate, then, that recent sordid events involving CIGNA and the world of professional baseball have become the matter of public record. In light of these events, and the countless column inches spent dissecting what has transpired, I would like to set the record straight from the CIGNA perspective.

As a company based in Connecticut, CIGNA took great pride in helping one of Major League Baseball’s finest organizations, the Houston Astros, in insuring the well-being of one of Connecticut’s finest professional athletes, Killingworth’s own Jeff Bagwell. Many of us here at CIGNA are proud baseball fans, both of local teams, and of the sport as a whole, and we take special pride in those athletes that escape the confines of the Nutmeg State and achieve success elsewhere. We look forward to the day when Jeff is enshrined in Cooperstown, wearing the cap of the club that fleeced a then-befuddled Boston Red Sox organization. It is a shame that our relationship with the Astros organization has taken such a bitter turn in recent days.

As stated by attorney Ty Buthod, CIGNA has denied the Astros’ multi-million dollar claim that Jeff Bagwell is incapable of playing baseball. “The Astros took the position that Bagwell was totally disabled in January 2006 even though he played in September and October 2005,” Buthod said to the press. “Connecticut General determined that there had been no adverse change in Mr. Bagwell’s condition between the end of last season and the date the policy terminated on Jan. 31, 2006.”

Representatives for the Astros have noted that they will take CIGNA to court if this decision isn’t reversed within two weeks. We here at CIGNA are perfectly willing to stand by our original determination – that for Bagwell to be deemed “totally disabled to play baseball” is ludicrous. He was not disabled during the waning months of the 2005 season, despite hitting as if he was. Bagwell’s disability was not crippling enough to prevent him from participating in spring training drills, which he did just one month ago. Yet, somehow, between the end of the World Series and the start of spring training, the Astros coerced some doctor into offering the aforementioned quote. I can’t say I know who this Dr. Andrews is, but clearly he is one Jello mold away from shilling his wares on a shopping channel if he can actually suggest, given the evidence at hand, that Bagwell is “disabled.”

Forgive my layman’s approach to this issue, but obviously a first baseman with a sore shoulder does not qualify as disabled. First base is traditionally the least demanding defensive position in baseball, as suggested by the physique and lack of athletic grace exhibited by many first basemen (such as the Red Sox’s own David Ortiz). Many teams opt to employ a first basemen whose skill with the glove is dwarfed by his skill with the bat. So, naturally, the lack of defensive responsibility is commensurate with a lack of defensive activity – the position requires very little throwing. While the occasional underhand toss is necessary, such exertion puts minimal strain on one’s shoulder. Bagwell’s soft tosses during Spring Training will attest to this lack of strain.

Also evident by Bagwell’s training regiment is the fact that a severe shoulder ailment does not impede one’s ability to hit the ball. Whether the ball is hit well is a different matter entirely. If failure to successfully hit a baseball qualified as a disability, then I, the majority of players in our intracompany softball league, and a fair number of New Britain Rock Cats would be filing claims right now.

Of course, it is clear that the issue here isn’t Bagwell’s ability to play, but the Astros’ responsibilty to pay Bagwell. The Astros signed Bagwell to a six-year contract, covering the years 2002 to 2007. Bagwell, arguably one of the best players in baseball (and potentially one of the best products of the Red Sox farm system), was 32 at the time of the signing. History has shown that many players are prone to a decline of skills once they enter their 30s, even a player as steadfast as Bagwell. The contract was structured in such a way as to pay Bagwell more per year as the contract expired, during the years that Bagwell would be most suseptible to injury. This, of course, spells disaster.

At CIGNA, the impact of any financial decision – whether to buy such-and-such a company, or whether to ship more IT work overseas, or whether to lay off hundreds of employees and undergo yet another corporate re-organization – must be weighed against, among other things, the impact these decisions will have on our shareholders and our bottom line. Tough, unsavory choices must be made, but, in the end, these choices are the often the best ones for the well being of the company. A privately-owned organization such as the Astros, however, has no balance to check such irresponsible spending. This is why the team is looking at a $12 M buyout of Bagwell’s contract for 2007 (pending any further insurance claims), and why the team that was only 4 games away from its first ever World Series victory might find itself unable to afford a second opportunity at such a prize. That Bagwell, in 2004, could have possibly achieved World Series greatness with the team that he was stolen from is a possible course of events best left unexplored. Unless you are, of course, a fan of the Red Sox and what John Lennon called “Instant Karma.”

Perhaps my candor regarding this sensitive manner seems unfit for a man of my stature. Rest assured, though, that my position as Chairman of CIGNA affords me the best legal council that money can buy. Perhaps the Astros would do well to invest in such services, instead of throwing money at aging ballplayers. In lieu of the gambit the Astros are threathening to undertake, such an investment can only help. Our position at CIGNA is such: for us to offer this organization what amounts to a Get Out of Jail Free card because of their poor decision-making skills and their innopportune luck would send a dangerous message to other organizations, nevermind the CIGNA shareholders.

In baseball, there is such a thing as a “message pitch” – a pitch thrown near or at a hitter to let them know that their behavior to this point in the plate appearance is not appreciated. Consider this brief missive a “message pitch” to the Astros organization, a friendly reminder from us to the area just behind your head. Take heed of this note, because next time we send you a message, you might not have time to move out of the way. Take care, and good luck in 2006!

In a 2001 Hartford Advocate profile of Connecticut business executives, CIGNA Chairman Ed Hanway was represented by a picture of Vladimir Lenin.