Cigna International said that it will develop and offer individual Private Medical Insurance (PMI) to respond to the needs of customers. The company will provide local PMI for citizens in countries outside the US as well as to individual expatriates and high net-worth individuals.

The company has appointed Keith Biddlestone to lead individual PMI effort. He will be responsible for establishing and implementing the individual PMI strategy on an international scale. He comes from Bupa International where he spent more than 25 years in health care leadership positions.

Mr Biddlestone has also served as managing director of Bupa’s health care business. He maintained profit and loss responsibility for operations across 190 countries and jurisdictions, including a multi-distribution program selling individual PMI. He served as managing director of Bupa Asia-Pacific where he led operations including the domestic PMI business in Hong Kong and Thailand.

William Atwell, president of Cigna International, said: We’re very pleased to have Keith take on this important role for Cigna International. While our goals are aggressive, with Keith’s leadership, capability, expertise, and in-depth knowledge of the individual PMI arena, I’m confident he’ll be successful in this new role and help Cigna International better serve individual expatriates and local citizens around the globe.”

Cigna International is a health service and related insurance company. Its operating subsidiaries in the US provide medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy and vision care benefits, as well as group life, accident and disability insurance.