Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc. said Monday that the merged companies would cover more than 53 million people combined, a total that easily surpasses that of current market leader, UnitedHealth Group Inc.
Driving the consolidation is the 2010 health law that put tougher rules on the industry, demanding more covered services, better care and a ceiling on profits.
Anthem on Saturday offered to buy the smaller health insurer, which responded Sunday with a litany of concerns and criticisms.
The biggest U.S. providers—UnitedHealth Group Inc., Anthem Inc., Aetna Inc., Cigna Corp. and Humana Inc.—are all looking at possible combinations. Indianapolis-based Anthem is considering a takeover of Cigna or Humana, a person familiar with the matter said.
Already considered one of the largest thefts of U.S. government personnel data in history, investigators now estimate that it may include data on as many as 14 million people, including every federal employee.
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has added St. Vincent Health to the “narrow network” of health care providers it uses for Obamacare plans.
While health insurers in states around the country have proposed large rate increases for the health plans they sell on the Obamacare exchanges, insurers in Indiana are asking for modest increases or even decreases. The bad news is that it appears the rest of the country is just catching up with Indiana’s already-high prices.
The Indianapolis-based health insurer announced Tuesday that it will pay upfront the $2,500 annual cost of a business or health care degree from College for America, which provides online programs for adults.
Anthem exceeded Wall Street’s profit expectations by 47 cents per share and raised its full-year profit forecast by 20 cents per share.
After an Elkhart couple with an autistic son sued insurer Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield this month, autism families around the state started a campaign to get Anthem to change its policy for covering therapy for school-age children.
Representatives from Indianapolis-base health insurer Anthem Inc. have canceled plans to speak publicly this week at Ball State University, where some employees have had their identities stolen.
The Indianapolis-based health insurer raised pay for its executives, including CEO Joe Swedish, at a much slower pace than the 38-percent return it generated for shareholders last year.
President Barack Obama is enlisting private companies into his drive to change the way the U.S. pays its medical bills, including insurers Anthem Inc. and Cigna Inc. and casino chain Caesars Entertainment Corp.
Two senior U.S. senators demanded Anthem Inc. pick up the pace in notifying as many as 79 million Americans that their personal information may have been stolen from the health insurer in a computer breach last month.
Social Security numbers, names and addresses for millions of people who aren’t customers of Anthem Inc. may have been breached in a massive cyberattack disclosed by the health insurer earlier this month.
Anthem Inc. has closed its purchase of Florida Medicaid managed care provider Simply Healthcare Holdings Inc. for an estimated $1 billion.
The Indianapolis-based insurer is offering the monitoring and identity-theft repair as it continues to investigate how hackers broke into a database storing information for about 80 million people.
The New Hampshire Insurance Department said Thursday that it will work with insurance departments in other states that also have significant Anthem business, including Indiana, California, Missouri and Maine.
Anthem Inc. spends $50 million a year and employs 200 people to keep its information technology secure. Yet the Indianapolis-based health insurance giant still left itself vulnerable to hackers on key fronts leading up to the theft of 80 million consumer records.
After a huge data breach, Anthem is warning about “phishing” messages that are targeting people it insures or has insured in the past.
