Elevance Health, Inc.[2] is an American health insurance company. Prior to June 2022, Elevance Health was named Anthem, Inc.[3] The company is the world's seventh largest healthcare company based on revenue. Its services include medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans through affiliated companies such as Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Anthem Blue Cross in California,[4] Wellpoint, and Carelon.[5] It is the largest for-profit managed health care company in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. As of 2022, the company had 46.8 million members within its affiliated companies' health plans.[6]
Based on its 2021 revenues, the company ranked 20th on the 2022 Fortune 500.[7] In 2023, the company's seat in Forbes Global 2000 rankings was 78.[8] Carelon Global Solutions, Elevance Health's Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)/Shared Services subsidiary, serves the group's offshore and customer service management. It operates sites in India, Puerto Rico, Philippines, and the United States.
History
Anthem
In 1946, Anthem began in Indianapolis, Indiana, as Mutual Hospital Insurance Inc. and Mutual Medical Insurance Inc. The companies grew significantly, controlling 80% of the medical insurance market in Indiana by the 1970s.[9]
In 1972, the two firms, then known as Blue Cross of Indiana and Blue Shield of Indiana, entered into a joint operating agreement.[10]
In 1985, the two companies merged into Associated Insurance Companies, Inc,, later called, The Associated Group, a holding company, but usage of the name "Anthem" persisted.[11] In 1989, the company purchased American General Insurance Co. for $150 million and in 1991, it acquired The Shelby Insurance Co., based in Shelby, Ohio, for $125 million.[12] In 1989, The Associated Group founded Acordia, a brokerage that sold and serviced insurance and employee benefit programs.
Subsidiaries
Elevance Health includes the following subsidiaries:[77][78]
- Amerigroup
- District of Columbia (Medicaid)
- Georgia (Medicaid)
- New Mexico (Medicare Advantage)
- Anthem Blue Cross
- California
- Blue Cross of California Partnership Plan (Medicaid)
- New York (upstate)
- Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Georgia
Quality of care
In 2011, in the category of "Meeting National Standards of Care," California's state patient advocacy office gave Anthem a rating of 2 out of 4 stars.[79] In 2014, it received 3 out of 4 stars in the same category.[80] In 2022, twenty-one of Elevance Health's affiliated Medicaid plans earned accreditation for health equity from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).[81]
Controversies
Charitable donations
In 2007, WellPoint pledged to spend $30 million over three years, through the company's charitable foundation, to help the uninsured. In March 2010, the Los Angeles Times reported that WellPoint's tax records and website showed that the company had given only $6.2 million by 2009. The company said that the foundation had indeed fulfilled its $30-million commitment by mid-2009, but refused to provide any financial details to support its claim.[82]
2007 DMHC investigation
In 2007, the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) investigated Anthem's policies for revoking (rescinding) health care insurance policies. The DMHC randomly selected 90 instances where Anthem canceled the insurance of policy holders who had been diagnosed with costly or life-threatening illnesses, to find how many of these cancellations were legal. The agency concluded that all these cancellations were illegal.[83][84]
Finances
For the fiscal year 2017, Anthem reported earnings of US$3.843 billion, with an annual revenue of US$90.039 billion, an increase of 6.1% over the previous fiscal cycle. Anthem's shares traded at over $183 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$69.1 billion in October 2018.[127]
Recognition
The company was featured on the S&P Dow Jones Sustainability Index from 2018 to 2022,[133] was named by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For,[134] and was included on the Corporate Equality Index's list of Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality from 2015 to 2022.[135]
See also
- List of United States insurance companies
External links
References
- Elevance Health, Inc. 2024 Annual Report (Form 10-K) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, February 20, 2025^
- Elevance Health - Trademark Details Justia Trademarks, retrieved February 17, 2026^
- Form 8-K for Anthem Inc filed 05/18/2022