Teen's expiration: Just business for CIGNA

Richard Blair/All Spin Zone

Cigna Insurance made a cost-benefit and risk management decision when it denied Nataline Sarkisyan a liver transplant. In doing so, they established the dollar value of this young woman’s life. At the end of the day, she died at the hands of a certified public accountant rather than a physician. AP/AR is is business shorthand for “accounts payable / accounts receiveable”. In theory, as long as AR > AP on the corporate ledger, a company is profitable and satisfies the needs of its stakeholders (business partners, customers, vendors, employees, and stockholders). So, most large companies employ teams of individuals who manage corporate risk. Guidelines and protocols are established to enable these teams to make decisions on when it makes economic sense to spend money, approve projects, and invest in research and development.