Anthem continues to invest in innovative solutions, including virtual care technologies such as LiveHealth Online, to meet the changing needs of our consumers—and all of the customers we're privileged to serve
“Anthem has a significant opportunity to lead as we continue to unlock the full potential of our company. We are prioritizing investments, focusing on reducing costs, delivering innovative products and services to improve quality of care and outcomes, and creating a more agile, flexible organization that can quickly respond to the evolving needs of our consumers, customers, and the changing healthcare environment.”
Gail K. Boudreaux, President and CEO, Anthem
We Lead By:
Caring for the diverse needs of consumers
More than 1 in 8 Americans is served by an Anthem affiliated health plan
Building better outcomes
Innovative care programs to address the country’s most significant health challenges
Improving quality
70% of Medicare Advantage consumers in 4-Star plans or greater in 2018
Meeting the needs of our communities
$40 million in Anthem Foundation-sponsored grants; 55,000 employee volunteer hours; $4.6 million raised through Associate Giving Program
Creating value
More than 60% of healthcare spending in value-based care models
Tackling high drug costs
New innovative pharmacy benefits management to reduce drug costs by $4 billion annually
Driving innovation
More than 35 million touch points by consumers using digital innovations such as LiveHealth Online, What’s My Status, and Anthem Engage
Delivering strong 2017 financial performance
$90 billion in revenue, more than 40% growth in 5 years; 56% increase in stock price; 8th consecutive year of dividend increases
Letter from President and Chief Executive Officer
To Our Shareholders:
As we look at Anthem in 2017, we are proud of our results. Our ability to serve 40 million people—more consumers than ever before—along with strong performance in our businesses and a fifth year of increased operating revenue, positions us well to continue to deliver long-term, sustainable growth to our shareholders.
But for me, 2017 was about more than the numbers. It was personal. I joined Anthem in November 2017 because amidst the rapidly changing landscape of healthcare, I saw a company ready to lead. I saw an organization of 56,000 employees, grounded in values I share and motivated to address some of the greatest challenges and opportunities our industry has ever faced.
With each Anthem facility I visit and every employee I meet, I see examples and hear stories of the countless ways we are working and innovating to deliver a simpler, more affordable and more accessible healthcare experience for our consumers and their families. This report includes a collection of those stories—a window into the lives of the people we serve, the communities we impact and the future that is possible.
Among them, you’ll read about our partnership with care providers at the Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers in Denver, where we are working to ensure that cancer patients receive the highest quality care by utilizing evidence-based treatment plans that also reduce side effects and hospitalizations. You’ll meet Jennifer, an Anthem Medicaid member and first-time mom, who was guided through a healthy pregnancy thanks to the support of two Anthem nurse case managers. And you’ll meet 94-year-old Barbara, who was one of the first consumers in Anthem’s pioneering “Togetherness Program,” which provides integrated healthcare, transportation, social activity and other services to address the growing issue of senior loneliness.
We’ll tell you how our Anthem Foundation and employees lend a hand for communities in need. And you’ll read about how we’re impacting communities through bold advancements in addressing the opioid crisis and other chronic issues that impact health, like homelessness.
Just as importantly, we look ahead to a healthier future as we include some of the ways Anthem is collaborating with care providers to reward and enhance value-based, patient-centered care. And we share a window into the role of digital innovation in advancing greater access to care and a simpler, more personalized experience for consumers.
For Anthem—and for me—each of these stories is part of something bigger. They point to what is possible. As healthcare reinvents itself, we have the ability, the vision and the values to redefine what’s possible. Building on our Anthem legacy, now is our opportunity to raise our performance, to execute relentlessly, to innovate boldly, and to deliver even greater impact on the affordability, accessibility, and quality of healthcare in America.
Healthcare changes. And Anthem will lead.
Letter from George A. Schaefer, Jr., Lead Director
Thank you for your investment in Anthem and for trusting us to oversee your interests. Your Board’s mission is to represent the interests of all shareholders, not in the short term, but with a long-term perspective.
Anthem's HealthSun Medicare Advantage plan offers a unique, integrated approach to high-quality care for consumers. Here, care providers, consumers and employees stand together outside of one of our HealthSun clinics
Ensuring Quality Cancer Care
Leading the Way in Caring for New Mothers
Meeting the Changing Needs of Seniors
Helping solve industry challenge through innovative partnership
Caring for the health of millions is
a daunting responsibility. As a
company devoted to delivering the best possible healthcare experience for all
Americans, Anthem understands the complexity and enormity of that challenge.
We are in the middle of an extraordinary period of change for the healthcare system,
from one focused on the process of care delivery, to one that rewards the outcomes
of care. We are already leading that change. Our groundbreaking work with care
providers, through a wide variety of collaborative partnerships, is resulting in better
patient outcomes. Our focus on the consumer has translated into equipping them
with innovative programs, tools and resources that help meet their desire and the need
to play a more active role in their own healthcare decisions. We are tackling head-on
critical barriers to care, such as rising costs. And we are finding creative and even transformative ways to utilize our vast repositories of data to yield better clinical outcomes.
We recognize that we are in a unique position to leverage our broad scope of experience to meet the challenges of this changing healthcare industry. And our 56,000 employees care deeply about making a difference in the lives of the people we have the privilege to serve and making healthcare more affordable and simpler to navigate. The stories that follow show how Anthem is leading the way toward a better healthcare experience, today and in the future.
Delivering Breakthrough Approaches to Ensure Quality Cancer Care
One of the biggest issues in treating cancer today is that, thanks to enormous strides in pharmaceutical research and medical practice, there are more cancer treatment options than ever before.
The United States has the worst rate of infant deaths in the developed world and nearly 60 percent of these deaths are preventable. With Medicaid plans in 20 states, and nearly one out of every 10 babies born in the U.S. to Anthem consumers, Anthem is focused on addressing the healthcare challenges of all populations.
Anthem creates healthier communities by tackling big issues that impact health like childhood obesity, opioid use disorder and homelessness
A Helping Hand for Those in Need
A Unique Approach to Homelessness and Better Health
Addressing National Opioid Epidemic
At Anthem, one of our priorities is to have a national impact on healthcare. But we are also a company that focuses on the communities we serve and where our employees live and work. We donate our time and our funds for causes that matter through the Anthem Foundation, one of our country's largest corporate foundations, which supports thousands of organizations and millions of people, young and old. In 2017, Anthem Foundation's $40 million in grants benefitted a variety of community-focused, and sometimes ground-breaking efforts.
But it takes more than just a foundation and its philanthropic activities to make a difference. It takes a willingness to tackle the big challenges on many levels. In addressing a national health crisis like the opioid epidemic, we were among the first to use our expertise in drug prescribing and care delivery to find effective ways to impact overprescribing. It takes a willingness to address chronic issues that continue to plague our society, like addiction, homelessness and the challenges of growing old alone. The stories that follow describe some of the ways we are leading in using our resources to help the communities where we live and work.
Anthem Lends Helping Hand for Those in Need
The Anthem Foundation, one of the largest corporate foundations in the United States, allows us to lead the way and lend a helping hand—to make an enormous impact in communities across America. The Anthem Foundation awarded more than $40 million in 2017, and more than $165 million in total grants since 2000, to organizations and programs that not only directly impact good health, but also address issues that are related to healthy minds, bodies and spirits.
A Unique Approach to Homelessness and Better Health
As a healthcare leader, Anthem understands that improving health involves more than just access to care. More than a half million people across the United States experience homelessness on any given night. It is a national issue and one that affects many of the communities Anthem serves.
Educational material from "What's Up With Opioids?" a free online toolkit, funded by Anthem Foundation and the National Urban League
Anthem Addresses National Opioid Epidemic
The nation's opioid crisis continued to escalate in 2017, with data revealing that there were 17 percent more deaths from drug overdoses between May 2016 and May 2017, compared to the previous year.
Anthem employee Joyzelle Davis uses a LiveHealth Online kiosk at work. LiveHealth Online enables consumers to access care when and where it works best for them through their mobile devices and at their workplace
Innovation in How We Pay for Care
Applying an Integrated Approach to Improve Health and Reduce Drug Costs
Looking at Health from a Different Perspective
Making Healthcare Simpler through Digital Innovation
Live Healthcare is Just a Click Away
At Anthem, we work hard each day to help
consumers and customers navigate a complex
and changing healthcare system, but we also
work hard to build something better—for
tomorrow. Anthem reaches one in every eight Americans through our affiliated
health plans. And because we touch people’s lives so directly and so often, we
recognize how much more we can and must accomplish. We know we can create a
simpler, more affordable and more accessible healthcare system. We are already
working on it. We have led the industry in focusing on outcomes that matter to
consumers, while reining in costs that promise to otherwise put a significant burden
on our economy.
Beyond innovating in how healthcare is paid for, we are also innovating in how it’s
delivered: We are accelerating healthcare offerings that leverage current and
emerging technologies. And we are developing and enhancing our own digital and
technology-based innovations. Our aim is to expand how healthcare is delivered to
consumers, not only in traditional settings, but in their homes, workplaces and
wherever and whenever they need access to care. Delivering the best possible
healthcare, in the best possible way, is an opportunity to seize and imagine a better
future. The stories that follow suggest some of those possibilities.
Innovation in How We Pay for Care
Anthem was one of the first to fully embrace the need to shift to a value-based model and we are continuing to lead the industry in developing innovative, integrated, community-based, value-based care solutions. More than 60 percent of all Anthem dollars spent on healthcare are in value-based arrangements, which reward value for delivering improved outcomes, quality and reduced costs.
Applying an Integrated Approach to Improve Health and Reduce Drug Costs
Drug spending is the fastest growing area of healthcare costs—and that trend is expected to continue over the next decade. That is why Anthem announced the launch of its own pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) to help lead the industry forward by focusing on the consumer experience, including better health outcomes, while offering customers lower costs.
In 2017, Anthem’s CareMore Health introduced the Togetherness Program, a first-of-its-kind approach to tackling loneliness, a condition that impacts the health of seniors and affects more than 40 percent of those over 65. The program is one example of Anthem’s leadership in delivering benefits and better care to serve the needs of a growing and often vulnerable population.
For the more than 40 million consumers in Anthem affiliated health plans, the way they shop for groceries, watch television or listen to music has changed dramatically during the past few years. Today, almost 80 percent of Americans own a smartphone and spend up to five hours per day "virtually" on their mobile devices.
While technology innovations in healthcare have typically been focused on efficiency improvements for care providers—such as Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), online appointment scheduling, and bill payment systems—at Anthem, it also includes enabling consumers to access care in a way that works best for them, emphasizing accessibility through innovations like LiveHealth Online, a video healthcare service.
Anthem is working to transform health care with trusted and caring solutions. Our health plan companies deliver quality products and services that give members access to the care they need. With over 73 million people served by our affiliated companies, including more than 40 million enrolled in our family of health plans, we are one of the nation’s leading health benefits companies. We are an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. We serve our members as the Blue Cross licensee for California and as the Blue Cross and Blue Shield, or BCBS, licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (in varying counties as BCBS, Blue Cross or Empire BlueCross BlueShield HealthPlus), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.) and Wisconsin. We also conduct business through arrangements with other BCBS licensees in Louisiana, South Carolina and western New York. Through our subsidiaries, we also serve customers in over 15 states across the country as America’s 1st Choice, Amerigroup, CareMore, Freedom Health, HealthLink, HealthSun, Optimum HealthCare, Simply Healthcare and/or Unicare. We are licensed to conduct insurance operations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia through our subsidiaries.