Elevance Health Acquires Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana

Elevance Health, Inc. (Elevance) reported fourth quarter and full year 2022 results reflecting strong financial performance, including double-digit growth in revenue, operating earnings, and adjusted earnings per share.

Operating revenue was $39.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, an increase of $3.6 billion, or 10.1 percent year-over-year. Operating revenue was $155.7 billion for the full year, representing 13.7 percent growth over 2021.

Net income in the fourth quarter of 2022 decreased to $961 million from $1,137 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Net income for the full year decreased to $6,019 million in 2022 from $6,095 million in 2021.

Medical membership totaled approximately 47.5 million as of December 31, 2022, an increase of 2.2 million, or 4.8 percent year-over-year. Government Business membership increased by 1.1 million year-over-year driven primarily by growth in the Medicaid business and organic growth in Medicare Advantage. Commercial & Specialty Business membership increased by 1.1 million year-over-year, driven primarily by strong sales to fee-based employers.

Elevance and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana have entered into a definitive agreement through which Elevance Health agrees to acquire Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana (BCBSLA). BCBSLA will join Elevance Health’s affiliated Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield family of brands.

The combination builds on the existing collaboration in Louisiana through joint ownership of Healthy Blue, which serves Medicaid and Medicare Dual Eligible members.

It will also accelerate BCBSLA’s strategic evolution to improve access, affordability and quality of services delivered by BCBSLA to the more than 1.9 million members they serve with capabilities developed by Elevance Health and its healthcare services organization, Carelon. With more than $4 billion invested over the past several years, Carelon delivers behavioral health, complex and chronic care programs, and innovative digital models.

The BCBSLA headquarters will remain in Baton Rouge, and will continue to serve its customers locally through its workforce of approximately 3,000 employees. An additional benefit of this transaction will be the creation of a multibillion-dollar foundation, the Accelerate Louisiana Initiative.

BCBSLA began searching for such a partnership two years ago as a result of the rising costs of acquiring digital capabilities and difficulty in rapidly investing in services, such as those for chronic illnesses, palliative care and behavioral health.

Takeaway: Louisiana will be the 15th state-run Blue Cross plan to join Elevance, which changed its name from Anthem Inc. last year as it aims to rebrand itself as a company with broader health interests

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