Elevance Health reported nearly $1.7 billion in second quarter profits as the health insurer formerly known as Anthem grew its diverse portfolio of medical and drug benefits.
Elevance Health, which operates an array of government and commercial health insurance products including Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in 14 states, Wednesday reported second quarter net income of $1.65 billion, or $6.79 per share. Revenue rose nearly 14% to $38.6 billion compared to $32.8 billion a year ago.
The company’s health plan membership grew by 2.7 million, or 6.1%, to 47.1 million as of June 30, 2022 compared to a year ago. A large part of the health plan growth game from government business enrollment, which increased by 1.6 million enrollees driven in part by the Medicaid business. Health insurers like Elevance Health enroll low income Americans into private Medicaid plans via contracts with states.
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Elevance Health’s pharmacy benefit management business, IngenioRx is also performing well, reporting an “operating gain” of $479 million in the second quarter of 2022, which was “an increase of $74 million from $405 million in the second quarter of 2021,” the company said in its earnings report. “The increase was driven by an in-year out of period favorable adjustment and the impact of higher prescription volume associated with growth in integrated medical and pharmacy members,” the company said.
Elevance Health’s profits and continued growth figured in the company’s decision to raise its financial outlook yet again for the rest of 2022 with adjusted net income now expected to be “greater than $28.70 per share, based on stronger than expected results year-to-date.” That compares to an earlier forecast of greater than $28.40.
“The disciplined execution of our strategy, and the balance and resilience of our diversified portfolio of businesses has enabled us to deliver another quarter of strong organic growth, and we have raised our outlook for 2022 earnings per share as a result,” Elevance Health president and chief executive Gail K. Boudreaux said.
“Our recent name change to Elevance Health and the broader rebranding strategy underscores our transformation to a lifetime, trusted health partner and our diversified set of businesses that lend resilience in any business environment,” Boudreaux added. “We are uniquely well-positioned for growth in the future as we remain focused on meeting the needs of our clients and customers.”
