Elevance Health

The company’s predecessor was Mutual Hospital Insurance, Inc., known as Blue Cross of Indiana, formed in 1944; in 1946, Blue Shield of Indiana (Mutual Medical Insurance Inc.) was incorporated as an Indiana mutual insurance company. In 1985 the two companies merged as Associated Insurance Companies, Inc.⁠[1][1][1]

The company then absorbed Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations in other states: it merged with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kentucky in 1993 and with Ohio’s Community Mutual Blue Cross and Blue Shield in 1995, changed its name to Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. in 1996, merged with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Connecticut in 1997, acquired the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans of New Hampshire and of Colorado and Nevada in 1999, and acquired Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine in 2000.⁠[1][1][1][1][1][1][1]

Anthem, Inc., the holding company for the demutualization, was incorporated in Indiana on July 17, 2001. On November 2, 2001, Anthem Insurance converted from a mutual insurance company to a stock insurance company and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Anthem, Inc.; all membership interests were extinguished, and eligible members received Anthem stock or cash.⁠[2][1][1][1]

An initial public offering accompanied the conversion: Anthem sold 55.2 million shares of common stock at $36.00 per share, in addition to 48.1 million shares distributed to eligible members. At the time the company served about eight million members, mainly in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Colorado, and Nevada.⁠[1][1][1]

On July 31, 2002, Anthem completed its purchase of Trigon Healthcare, Inc., the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee in Virginia excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.⁠[3][3]

On November 30, 2004, Anthem, Inc. and WellPoint Health Networks Inc. completed their merger: the latter merged into Anthem’s wholly owned subsidiary Anthem Holding Corp., and Anthem amended its articles of incorporation to change its name to WellPoint, Inc. Before the merger, WellPoint Health Networks had acquired RightCHOICE, parent of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri, in January 2002, and Cobalt, parent of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin, in September 2003.⁠[4][4][4][3][3]

Measured by membership, the combined WellPoint became the largest publicly traded commercial health benefits company in the United States, serving more than 27 million medical members as of December 31, 2004.⁠[3]

On December 28, 2005 (December 31, 2005 for accounting purposes), WellPoint completed its acquisition of WellChoice, Inc. WellChoice stockholders received $38.25 in cash plus 0.5191 of a share of WellPoint common stock for each share, for a purchase price of about $6.5 billion including cash, the fair value of stock and stock awards, and transaction costs.⁠[4][4][4]

Beginning in 2012, the company was named a defendant, along with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and other Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensees, in multiple lawsuits nationwide. The cases were consolidated into a multi-district proceeding before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, brought by two nationwide classes of plaintiffs, health plan subscribers and providers, alleging that the licensing agreements and other arrangements violated the Sherman Antitrust Act and related state laws.⁠[2][2][2][2]

The settlement with the subscriber class received final court approval in September 2022; the company ultimately paid $604 million under it, mostly accrued in 2020. The settlement with the provider class received final approval in August 2025 and became effective on September 19, 2025; the company had recognized a payment obligation of $666 million in September 2024. Entities that opted out of the settlements have filed follow-on cases, which the company said it would continue to defend.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][2]

On December 24, 2012, WellPoint completed its acquisition of Amerigroup, a managed care company focused on financially vulnerable Americans, paying $92.00 per share in cash for all outstanding shares, for total cash consideration of $4.7558 billion. The company said the deal strengthened its ability to serve the growing Medicaid population.⁠[5][5][5][5]

On November 5, 2014, WellPoint shareholders approved changing the company’s name to Anthem, Inc.; the amendment took effect on December 2, 2014, upon filing with the Indiana Secretary of State.⁠[6][6][6]

In February 2015, Anthem disclosed that some of its information systems had been the target of a sophisticated external cyber attack. The attackers obtained personal information of many current and former members and employees, including names, birth dates, healthcare identification or Social Security numbers, street addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and employment information including income data; the company said there was no evidence that credit card or medical information had been targeted or obtained.⁠[7][7][8][8]

The consolidated civil class actions, In re Anthem, Inc. Data Breach Litigation, were settled on a class-wide basis for $115 million, with final approval from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in August 2018. In resolving a multistate examination by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in December 2016, the company agreed to provide a credit-freeze-equivalent protection program for members who were under 18 on January 27, 2015, and no fines were imposed; in October 2018, the company resolved the investigation by the HHS Office for Civil Rights with a monetary settlement and a two-year corrective action plan. As of February 2019, an investigation by a multistate group of attorneys general remained outstanding.⁠[8][8][8][8][8][8]

On February 17, 2015, Anthem completed its acquisition of Simply Healthcare Holdings, Inc., a managed care company serving people enrolled in Medicaid and Medicare in Florida; the deal had been announced on December 22, 2014. After the acquisition the company served more than half a million members in Florida.⁠[7][7][7][7]

In July 2015, Anthem and Cigna Corporation announced a merger agreement under which Anthem would acquire all outstanding shares of Cigna. In July 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice and certain state attorneys general filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the merger; on April 28, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling blocking the deal.⁠[9][9][9]

On February 14, 2017, Cigna purported to terminate the merger agreement and sued Anthem in the Delaware Court of Chancery, seeking damages including the $1.85 billion termination fee; Anthem filed its own suit the same day seeking to enjoin Cigna from terminating the agreement, specific performance, and damages. In May 2017, after the court denied Anthem’s request for an injunction, Anthem delivered notice terminating the merger agreement.⁠[9][9][9][10]

In October 2017, Anthem established a new pharmacy benefit manager, IngenioRx, and signed a five-year agreement with CaremarkPCS Health, a CVS Health subsidiary, to succeed its agreement with Express Scripts. In January 2019, the company exercised its contractual right to terminate the Express Scripts agreement early; IngenioRx began providing pharmacy benefit services in the second quarter of 2019 and was renamed CarelonRx on January 1, 2023.⁠[8][8][8][8][10][11]

On November 6, 2017, Anthem announced that its board had named Gail K. Boudreaux chief executive officer and president and appointed her to the board, effective November 20, 2017; Joseph R. Swedish, previously chairman, president, and CEO, became executive chairman until May 2018 and senior advisor through May 2020. As of October 2026, Boudreaux remains president and CEO.⁠[12][12][13]

The company said at the time that during Swedish’s tenure Anthem’s membership had grown by four million (11 percent) to 40 million and operating revenue had risen 39 percent to more than $89 billion.⁠[12][12]

On February 15, 2018, Anthem completed its acquisition of the Medicare Advantage organization comprising Freedom Health, Optimum HealthCare, America’s 1st Choice of South Carolina, and related entities.⁠[8][8]

On May 23, 2018, Anthem announced an agreement to acquire Aspire HealthAspire HealthAspire Health is a community-based palliative care company headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It was co-founded in 2013 by former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and physician Bill Frist and Brad Smith, and provides mainly home- and outpatient-based, non-hospice palliative care to patients with serious illnesses. It was acquired by the health insurer Anthem (now Elevance Health) in June 2018 and has operated under Anthem’s Carelon Health brand since 2024.Open the full entry, the largest non-hospice, community-based palliative care provider in the United States, and completed the acquisition on June 18; Aspire became a wholly owned subsidiary within the Diversified Business Group, and financial terms were not disclosed.⁠[14][15][15][15]

On February 28, 2020, Anthem completed its acquisition of Beacon Health Options, then the largest independently held behavioral health organization in the United States, which at the time of acquisition served more than 34 million people across all 50 states.⁠[10][10]

In March 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against the company in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (United States v. Anthem), alleging that the company falsely certified the accuracy of diagnosis data submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and knowingly failed to delete inaccurate diagnosis codes, causing CMS to calculate risk-adjustment payments on that basis in violation of the False Claims Act.⁠[16][16][16][16][16]

The Justice Department filed an amended complaint in July 2020; the company’s motions to transfer, to dismiss part of the suit, and to strike certain allegations were denied in October 2022, the company answered in November 2022, and discovery began in March 2023. As of July 2026, fact and expert discovery deadlines were August 31, 2026, and May 10, 2027, respectively; the company said the suit is without merit and it would continue to defend it, and the outcome cannot yet be determined.⁠[16][16][16][16]

In August 2020, the Delaware Court of Chancery found that neither party was owed damages and that Anthem did not owe Cigna the $1.85 billion termination fee; Cigna appealed the termination-fee ruling in November 2020. In May 2021, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the decision, concluding the matter.⁠[10][10][17]

On April 28, 2021, the company completed its acquisition of myNEXUS, a home-based nursing management company for payors; on June 29, 2021, it completed its acquisition of the Puerto Rico-based MMM Holdings and affiliated companies, which operate Medicare Advantage and Medicaid plans; and on May 5, 2022, it completed its acquisition of Integra, a managed long-term care plan serving New York State Medicaid members.⁠[11][11][11][11][11][11]

On May 18, 2022, Anthem shareholders approved changing the company’s name to Elevance Health, Inc.; the amendment took effect on June 27, 2022, and the company began operating under the new name and trading under the new ticker ELV on June 28.⁠[18][18][18][11]

With the renaming, the company announced that over the following years it would organize its brands into three core go-to-market brands: Anthem Blue Cross/Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield for its Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensed plans; Wellpoint for select non-BCBSA licensed Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial plans; and Carelon, bringing together healthcare services businesses including the former Diversified Business Group and IngenioRx.⁠[11][11][11][11]

On March 11, 2024, the company completed its acquisition of Paragon Healthcare, which provides infusion services and injectable therapies through ambulatory infusion centers, home infusion pharmacies, and other channels, and folded it into CarelonRx.⁠[19][19]

On December 10, 2024, the company completed its acquisition of RSV QOZB LTSS, Inc. and affiliated entities, doing business as CareBridge, a value-based healthcare company that manages home and community-based services for Medicaid and dual-eligible members receiving long-term services and support, and placed it within Carelon Services; in the initial purchase price allocation, $995 million was assigned to finite-lived intangible assets and $1.631 billion to goodwill. The deal was valued at about $2.7 billion.⁠[19][19][19][20]

On December 31, 2024, the company completed its acquisition of Centers Plan for Healthy Living and related entities, a managed long-term care plan serving New York State Medicaid and dual-eligible members.⁠[19][19]

In fiscal 2025, the company’s operating revenue was $197.584 billion (versus $175.204 billion in fiscal 2024, up 12.8 percent), shareholders’ net income was $5.662 billion (versus $5.980 billion in fiscal 2024), and diluted earnings per share were $25.21; about 32 percent of consolidated revenue came from federal government programs.⁠[2][2][2][2]

As of December 31, 2025, the company served about 45.2 million medical members through its affiliated health plans and had about 97,100 employees, about 71,900 in the United States and 25,200 internationally.⁠[2][2]

On February 26, 2026, the company announced management changes: chief financial officer Mark Kaye would add oversight of Carelon, including pharmacy, behavioral health, value-based care, and care delivery; chief health benefits officer Felicia Norwood would lead the consolidated Health Benefits organization; and Carelon president Peter D. Haytaian would step down on May 4, 2026, remaining a special advisor through December 31, 2026. The company said Haytaian’s decision was not the result of any disagreement with the company on its operations, policies, or practices.⁠[21][21][21][21][21][22]

On February 27, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services notified the company of its intent to impose intermediate sanctions suspending enrollment of Medicare beneficiaries into the company’s Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans and suspending certain marketing communications, scheduled to take effect on March 31, 2026, over alleged noncompliance with risk adjustment data submission requirements for dates of service before April 3, 2023; the company said it had revised its practices in April 2023 following new regulatory guidance and that the suspension did not affect current members’ benefits.⁠[23][23][23][23][23]

As of March 31, 2026, the company recorded an accrual of about $935 million as its best estimate of the potential exposure for resubmitting certain risk adjustment data, and on May 27, 2026, it paid CMS $342 million. On July 13, 2026, CMS informed the company by letter that it had completed all required steps, that sanctions would not be imposed, and that the enforcement process was closed.⁠[16][16][16][16]

In the third quarter of 2026, the company’s operating revenue was $50.4 billion, up 0.7 percent year over year, and diluted earnings per share were $6.27. Medical membership was about 44.9 million as of September 30, 2026, down 487,000 year over year, mainly because of lower enrollment in Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and employer group risk-based business. The company raised its full-year 2026 guidance to diluted earnings per share of at least $22.00 and adjusted diluted earnings per share of at least $29.00.⁠[13][13][13][13][13]

The company is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association: it is the Blue Cross licensee for California and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (the New York City metropolitan area and upstate New York), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs), and Wisconsin. In most of these areas it does business as Anthem Blue Cross and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and it serves members in other states under brands such as Wellpoint, Carelon, MMM, and Simply Healthcare.⁠[2][2][2][2][2]

As of fiscal 2025, the company reported results in four segments: Health Benefits, CarelonRx, Carelon Services, and Corporate & Other; it leases its principal executive offices at 220 Virginia Avenue in Indianapolis. As of February 2026, the company’s businesses served about 104 million consumers.⁠[2][2][21]

Elevance Health: Official website: https://www.elevancehealth.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[21]

X: Public account: https://x.com/ElevanceHealth (opens in a new window)⁠[21][24]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elevance-health/ (opens in a new window)⁠[24]